tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949Sun, 17 May 2015 16:05:46 +0000Detroit Lions 2010 Season PredictionsNetRat's Lions BlogDetroit Lions, the NFL, the Salary Cap and More... courtesy of the NetRat.http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)Blogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-1140529466751529066Thu, 07 May 2015 03:54:00 +00002015-05-06T23:48:04.206-05:00My Estimated Charts for the Lions<br>For many years now I have been doing an estimated Salary Cap chart for the Detroit Lions and for about half as long I've also been working on an estimated depth chart. While the salary cap chart gets updated continually all year long the estimated depth chart tends to last just over half a year... that is from the beginning of February to the beginning of September. The other day I copied both to google docs and now have a permanent link to both, they can be found over to the right here in the blog and also there are permanent links now in my forum. Remember, these are ongoing, they will change, they never really stop changing this time of the year... I only halt the estimated depth chart about a week before they starting cutting the roster to see how accurate I am before they create the actual 53 man roster (my best was in 2014 with only 4 wrong).<br><Br> At this time of the year I always include all the draft picks, since they wouldn't have drafted them had they not figured on at least hoping to keep (and possibly play) them. By mid-August I may change my mind on a one or more but until then (or an injury) I keep them on. I also tend to stick in an undrafted player or two if I think there are any that might make the final roster despite the unlikeliness of that happening. This year there happens to be a few I truly feel have a chance. As the summer goes on I may change my mind on them as well. In fact, the whole thing (as I said before) is in flux but that's the point of an estimated depth chart, taking information as it becomes available then making appropriate educated guesses from there.<Br><br> The salary cap chart has a ton of info as well, I use it to keep track of the salary cap numbers for the Lions to do my weekly tweet updates. Rather then cover both charts in one blog entry I think I shall focus on just the estimated depth chart for now. If you do look at the chart you will see it's split into a left and right section. The left side is the 53 I think presently may make the final roster (to start game 1). The right side are those who I believe are going to have to work the hardest to fight for a roster spot. I try to also keep them lined up across from those they are competing against, but that doesn't always work since some years it's the 7th LB fighting the 6th WR fighting the 10th DL and the 9th OL for two spots (for example). Regardless, even though it's constantly in flux, having a graphic visual of the estimated depth chart seems to work for me better then just some list (such as in the cap chart).<Br><br> Now to be a little more specific on why I have what I have listed. At Wide Receiver I currently have 5 listed, there could be 6 but for now I'm going with 5. Calvin Johnson (CJ) and Golden Tate make the team barring injury, but so do their respective backups; Corey Fuller and Ryan Broyles. That leaves room for a slot receiver and presently I have T.J. Jones in that spot until I see someone more likely. In the past they also kept a 6th WR (Jeremy Ross) because he was the kick and punt returner, this year the KR/PR might be a RB or a CB instead, so I went down to 5 for now. I personally like Andrew Peacock but he might not be able to crack the final 53 just yet, perhaps after another year on the practice squad. Some of the others fighting for the WR spots I believe will also make the practice squad if they fail to take the slot WR job or one of the backup jobs, there just happens to be a few months to go yet before I can make that call.<br><Br> The next 5 spots listed are the offensive line... both starters and backups. My preferred starting left tackle would be Cornelius Lucas but the Lions seem to like Riley Reiff there. They also drafted Corey Robinson and then promptly stated he's a left tackle, but I'm not so sure that's where he finishes up at. I also am not sure the Lions will be comfortable with three undrafteds as the starter and two backups on the offensive tackle positions, so I'm keeping a 5th, presently that is the converted TE Michael Williams (Waddle being the other current starter at RT). How this shakes out in the end has yet to be determined. The starting center and guards along with their backups is also in a total state of flux. Lot's of youth and new bodies to sort out, so for now you can see I went with Laken Tomlinson at LG, Manny Ramirez at C, and Larry Warford at RG (this is the only one I'm comfortable with at present). Backups being Travis Swanson and maybe Torian Wilson (or Al Bond)... or maybe even someone not yet on the team.<BR><br> At tight end I'm shaking things up by pushing Joseph Fauria out and keeping the undrafted free agent Casey Pierce. Why? Fauria did well his rookie year for the other coaching staff and their scheme but has shown nothing to these coaches and they have no personal skin in keeping him. Also, Pierce is noted for having sure hands and good blocking ability in college, a skill set I can see these coaches desiring on the roster. He may not be able to be NFL ready in his rookie year so may end up on the practice squad but for the moment I've got him at TE #3. Pettigrew's salary is mostly guaranteed as is all of Ebron's so they are both staying put.<br><br> At QB you have Stafford, Orlovsky and Moore. They stay. The undrafted rookie Anthony Boone will likely be the camp arm that never sees any action in preseason so that the Lions can feel comfortable cutting him to sign him to the practice squad, just as they did last year.<br><br> At Running back they will keep Joique Bell and Theo Riddick and of course their 2nd round pick will stay (Ameer Abdullah) but I feel that Bell's backup will be Zach Zenner an undrafted player this year instead of George Winn, just an early guess on my part (and ZZ might be the kick returner if Ameer is not).<br><Br> At fullback the Lions will want a pass catching player and that spot goes to 5th round pick Michael Burton until someone beats him out of it.<br><br> That 26 on offense, there is almost no chance of there being 27 and they could go to 25 but I currently feel comfortable with 26.<br><br> At defensive end Ansah stays on one side and Jason Jones on the other with the backups likely to be Larry Webster and either Darryl Tapp or Devin Taylor or even Phillip Hunt. Taylor did well with the old coaching staff and scheme but struggled last year with the new coaches and scheme so we'll have to wait and see how this one progresses from here. At defensive tackle the Lions are forced to do wholesale changes but I like Ngata and Tyrunn Walker with backups Caraun Reid and Gabe Wright so I'll stick with them for the time being. The Lions could look at some free agents for more help to compete amongst the DL or one of the guys fighting for a spot (like Proctor or Cudjo) could push someone for a job, it's just too early to tell right now. I have made my educated guesses and plan to stick with them for now.<br><br> At LB the Lions are sitting pretty with starters Stephen Tulloch, DeAndre Levy, Tahir Whitehead, and Kyle Van Noy... but of course they only need 3 starters so Van Noy might be reduced to situational plays only... but that makes for some great quality depth for the Lions. Add to that Travis Lewis and Brandon Copeland (a special teams player) and you have a solid LB corp... or even better if someone like Bynes, Harris or Stanford beats out one of them for a job, meaning they are an upgrade from my suspected core group.<br><br> At corner you have starters Darius Slay and Rashean Mathis along with draft pick Alex Carter, the Lions usually keep 5 CBs and they liked Seisay last year plus they drafted Diggs to play nickel so that should round out that group nicely unless one of the others plays lights out and takes a job from someone else.<br><br> At safey you have starters Glover Quinn and James Ihedigbo (who is currently holding out for what will likely be an unsuccessful demand for more money) along with backups Don Carey (special teams), Isa Abdul-Quddus and perhaps Nate Ness or one of the others vying for a roster spot. <br><br> This makes for 24 on defense and the most likely scenario unless they go to 23 or 25, which I don't see at present unless Carter wins the kick return job then they might keep only 3 RBs and 6 CBs (for example).<br><br> The special teams group of 3 will remain Martin at punter, Prater at kicker and Muhlbach at long snapper. They already brought in a camp kicker (Kyle Brindza) and soon will sign a camp punter, and most likely a camp long snapper as well. Prater was once a camp kicker when Hanson was the Lions starter and was then signed by Denver before ending up back here as a Lion.<br><br> There is my current estimated depth chart, subject to multiple future changes, and a handy visual tool for trying to determine who might make the final roster and who has work to do if they want to take a job, for that is what they will have to do, earn it. As I hear about those making that kind of effort, or injuries, or new signees, I'll update the chart accordingly. At other times I may make a change simply because of a gut feeling, some of which even occasionally pay off.<br><Br> Before I go I'll mention that the salary cap available for the Lions is sitting at around $3,950,693... this figure will change slightly as the draft picks are signed... but only the top 51 contracts count presently so for every new contract another lesser one falls off keeping the cap situation under control for the time being. Don't expect any major free agent signings however, the Lions are trying to keep their comp picks for next year's draft as high as possible and not signing expensive free agents is part of that formula.<Br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/05/my-estimated-charts-for-lions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-1531979919149690335Mon, 04 May 2015 07:00:00 +00002015-05-04T12:40:30.416-05:002015 NFL Draft - the after math.<br>I have spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the draft overall, the players the Lions drafted, the undrafted players they signed or have at least invited to their rookie camp, and my own emotions which were run through the ringer throughout this draft... and have come to this conclusion... I'm still very happy and very upset with this draft. Those two things really don't work well together so apparently time and observation is the only way I can fix me.<Br><br> As for the draft, the positives and negatives, I've pretty much said what I wanted to say but will recap and/or perhaps add to what I wrote before if there is a tidbit to add. First I've read a ton of "grades" on this draft and the Lions have scored anywhere from an A+ to a C- ... but it's 3 years too early to grade this draft for me to do that. Second, the Lions definitely ranked the players in this draft but then narrowed it down to a much much smaller list first by making it mandatory the player be an upright, intelligent, hard working young man then by producing an even smaller list of players for each position they wanted to fill. They had a plan. They implemented it and are quite happy with the results. The rest of us will agree with them only if it turns out they were correct more often then not with who they selected. It's hard for me to like the results because it seemed every pick had some kind of issue that bothered me. <br><br> For example; in round one they selected offensive guard Laken Tomlinson (Duke) with the 28th pick after trading down five spots. I love that they traded down. I love that they acquired Manny Ramirez plus the 2015 5th round pick and the 2016 fifth round pick, and I'm happy they filled the starting guard spot. I even like a lot of the things I've seen and read about Laken... and most of his negatives are things the coaching staff can work on to make him even better. I understand many had him ranked as the best pure guard in the draft. But I would never draft a guard in the first round. Probably not in the 2nd round either. But that's just me, well no, it's not, it's a lot of people, the majority in fact... still, they got more then just a guard, they got perhaps the best one, and two draft picks, and perhaps a starting center too. Call me torn.<Br><br> In round 2 the Lions select another needed position, running back Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) with the 54th pick. If you want to know what I like about him just read the positives at <a href="http://www.draftinsider.net/reports/2015/RB">draftinsiders</a> (it's free) and if you want to see why I don't like the pick read the negatives (hint: small hands). They didn't draft him because of need, it wasn't a reach, he was actually ranked at this spot or slightly above it... they had more then one RB on their RB card... this was the top one though, I'm sure of that. Some of the moves I've seen remind me of one Barry Sanders, not all of them, but some. Watch some video on him, especially in the open field and one-on-one. One other tidbit, Ameer got MVP of the Senior Bowl and one of his blockers in that game was Laken. Still, I never ever draft a player with hands smaller then 9.5" because they tend to fumble.<br><br> In round 3 the Lions select cornerback Alex Carter (Stanford) with the 80th pick. I like everything I read about Alex especially by NDT... most sites had Alex ranked higher then he was drafted at, meaning he was decent value here too. He will have a year or two (hopefully) to learn and slowly get more and more reps to eventually take over for Mathis when that time comes. So what's my problem here? The Lions were supposed to pick at 88 but felt the need to trade away their newly acquired high 5th round pick from Denver to move up 8 spots. They used two picks to get one player. That is another thing I would never do, ever. Got two picks, get two players, or more if you can move down and it makes sense to. I assume the Lions felt they couldn't afford to lose Alex to another team, and maybe they even felt someone was about to pull the trigger... or maybe they just got nervous, maybe he was the last CB on their CB card of desirable choices. Fairly sure it was one or the other, I haven't come up with a third reason to move up.<br><br> Round 4 starts and as most know the Lions traded a 3rd from 2016 to get the 4th round pick, they then selected DT Gabe Wright (Auburn) at 113. Many sites had Gabe ranked as a 3rd rounder already, and I'm sure the Lions felt there was no way he'd make it to the 5th round, plus they didn't have to use up additional picks to move up, and Gabe does appear to be a player who can help the defensive tackle rotation this and in future years... the only way this pick sucks is if he fails to be worth a 3rd round pick. Yes it sucks losing a 3rd round pick next year, but... but if Gabe is worth it then he is worth it. Some NFL diet and weight room work along with coaching and this could easily be a great player, but was it a great move? It is if he turns out... it's just that it's... risky.<br><Br> Round 5 gets near the end to where the Lions are sitting and they select FB Michael Burton (Rutgers) at 168 overall. I knew the Lions were going to take a fullback and I knew it would be one who has the hands to catch passes... but this is the 5th round, not the 7th. Fullbacks don't hardly ever get a profile created for them by most sites because they end up undrafted or if a team wants to make sure they get their guy they take him in round 7. Typically. The Lions though pull the trigger in round 5. Yes, he'll likely be the starting fullback, but round 5?!?!? Ouch.<br><br> When the Lions selected Nickel CB Quandre Diggs (Texas) in round 6 with pick 200 I had not realized that current nickel CB Lawson has a dislocated foot that is not yet healed up and their other nickel CB Bentley went out last year with an ACL that takes time to heal, usually 10 months or so. Now that I do this pick makes more sense, they must of had a card with a number of nickel corners on it and picked the highest ranked one still available in this round. Oh, and his older brother (by 12 years) is one Quentin Jammer, the player the Lions passed up to draft Joey Harrington. The only issue I had with this pick and still do have is that he is barely 5' 9" tall... he's going to have to really be special to be able to do anything being that short in the NFL backfield. <br><br> Round 7 and the Lions finally draft the right tackle I thought they would take in round 1... no not the same guy but that position... anyway they took T Corey Robinson (South Carolina) who actually had a couple of 5th round grades, great value at this pick in my opinion. So what issue do I have with this pick? Nothing really, other then in round 7 that is when you draft your fullback, in round 5 that would work for a guard, round 1... the offensive tackle. Okay, so this way may also work out, there is nothing to say it won't, it's just a lot riskier this way. <br><Br> The draft ends and the Lions start being connected with undrafted players, they are:<br>TE Casey Pierce (Kent State)<br>RB Zach Zenner (South Dakota State)<br>G Torrian Wilson (UCF)<br>QB Anthony Boone (Duke)<br>S Isaiah Johnson (Georgia Tech)<br>K Kyle Brindza (Notre Dame)<br>G Al Bond (Memphis)<br>WR Vernon Johnson (Texas A&M-Commerce)<br>LB Kevin Snyder (Rutgers)<br>DB Delonte Hollowell (Michigan)<br>RB Rasheed Williams (Alfred State)<br>S Brian Suite (Utah State)<br>S Nathan Lindsey (Fort Hays State)<br>WR Marcus Beaurem (Tiffin)<br><br>For once I have got no issues with Mayhew and the Lions. I like many of these prospects, even predicted that the Lions would sign the kicker Kyle Brindza before the draft started. Some other things of note... TE Casey Pierce had a solid 7th round grade who has great hands and blocking ability. If any of the 3 TEs the Lions plan to start get hurt this dude makes the roster (or so I predict today). RB Zach Zenner also had a very productive college career and most thought he'd be drafted but he wasn't, he'll push for a roster spot. G Torrian Wilson has a 6th/7th round grade and many are surprised he was not drafted, keep an eye on this guy. QB Anthony Boone also had a 6th/7th round grade but if the Lions treat him like the recent past 4th arms in camp he'll never play a down in preseason and will end up on the practice squad. S Isaiah Johnson just missed having a 7th round grade and could push for a roster spot. Kyle is the camp kicker this year while G Al Bond, WR Vernon Johnson, and LB Kevin Snyder will all likely end up on the practice squad this year and will get 2 years to break onto the final roster (this year and next). The other small school guys I have almost no info on, they weren't ranked at all by anyone so far that I've seen, but that doesn't mean they aren't talented just that they went to a small school so no one knows them and never wrote anything up on them. <Br><br> The Lions filled all the holes on their roster or so it would seem, it is certainly one of the most talented rosters I've seen them field since 1991... which means this could be a very interesting season. Too early to go there yet though. A lot of risks were taken in this draft and it'll be a minor miracle if all of them pan out. Doesn't mean it won't, just that risk is a risk, and gamblers sometimes lose.<br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-nfl-draft-after-math.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-6699835461965169488Sat, 02 May 2015 23:57:00 +00002015-05-02T19:10:35.103-05:002015 NFL Draft - Rounds 4 - 7<Br>The Lions had no 4th round draft pick due to the trade for Ngata but that didn't stop Mayhew, he simply traded a 3rd from next year for a 4th this year with the Philadelphia Eagles. It appears the Lions will be receiving a 3rd round comp pick next year for losing Suh and that one can not be traded, so that one they will use next year to draft in the 3rd round, but their normal one can and was traded... so they could draft Defensive Tackle Gabe Wright from Auburn. He is the 4th (and final) player selected to be on the Lions contact list.<br><br> 4th round pick DT Gabe Wright (Auburn) is 6' 2 5/8" tall and weighs in at 300 pounds. He's 1 3/8" shorter then the proto-typical DT, about 11 pounds light, and has arms 2 1/4" shorter then ideal. He was a team captain and gives all he has when he plays. He has great first step quickness and should be a rotational pass rush DT in the Lions 4-3 defensive line. I had him ranked at 103, NDT has him at 169, and Optimum Scouting has him at 97. He pursues plays and plays to the whistle every snap. Has big strong hands but doesn't get a lot of vertical height on his jumps. He was forced to play a lot of DE due to injury but DT is his natural position. He is comparable to Jordan Hill. He will need an NFL diet and gym time and to improve on his run defense before seeing more snaps then only on obvious passing downs.<br><br> The Lions had also traded away their original 5th round pick in the Ngata trade, then received one from Denver in the trade in round 1 with them, then lost that one when trading up in round 3. Prior to that the Lions were losing DE George Johnson to Tampa Bay Bucaneers due to them signing him to a restricted free agent offer the Lions weren't going to match, but instead of risking losing him in arbitration the bucs traded their 5th to the Lions for their 7th, giving the Lions the 168th pick (#32 in round 5).<br><br> 5th round pick FB Michael Burton (Rutgers) is 5'11" tall and weighs in at 242 pounds. Neither NDT nor Optimum Scouting did a profile on Burton. I had him ranked at 460, or as an undrafted free agent. I fully expected the Lions to pick up a full back in the draft, in the 7th round, to make sure they got the one they wanted, instead of waiting until after the draft. I never expected them to do it in the 5th round. I'm also a little surprised the one they wanted is only 242 pounds and has very little college production running the ball, though he does catch well. A pass catching TE slash FB was exactly what I was expecting so perhaps they plan to beef ole Michael up with an NFL diet and gym room, not sure. He can run the 40 in 4.74 and did 25 reps so he has a good start to an NFL career at fullback. He is expected to contribute to special teams, but then ALL fullbacks should. Taking an undrafted ranked player in round 5 is usually not the best way to handle your draft however, especially one who is undersized, so we will see if he's worth this investment.<br><Br> Continuing on with this interesting draft the Lions stayed put at pick #200 and made their selection, a nickel back (not talking about the musical group) who is also very much undersized. Assuming that the Lions current nickel is injured and may not play right away if at all this year, the position to fill makes some since, so what's with this player?<br><br> 6th round pick CB Quandre Diggs (Texas) is 5' 9" if you bend your ruler a little and weighs in at 196 pounds, a bit stout for that height. NDT ranked him at 150, I had him at 207, and Optimum Scouting is at 142... not bad for pick 200. He can blitz, play cover, kick and punt return, but won't be able to man up as a starting corner, ever. He too was a team captain, is smart, and has good instincts. I like everything about him, if he was 3" taller.<br><Br> The Lions also kept their 7th round pick after gaining one and losing the same one in trades. In the end they finally drafted their offensive tackle with the 240th pick.<br><br> 7th round pick OT Corey Robinson (South Carolina) is 6' 7" tall and weighs in at 324 pounds. I had him ranked at 198, 9 spots ahead of their 6th round pick. Optimum Scouting has him at 138 and NDT is at 145... so two 5th round grades and a 6th. Corey is 1" taller then proto-typical, 4 pounds heavier, and arms are .63" longer. So nothing wrong there. NDT calls him a massive power player who's frame may be a hindrance and will be needing a lot of polish to overcome his size. His experience is at left tackle but is going to prove too slow for LT and will likely end up starting as a backup RT in the NFL. If he can't improve his kick-slide and speed with a bit less weight and coaching he may be moved into the inside. In a word, he's a Prospect.<br><br> There are a lot of positives in this draft, both overall and with individual players. BUT. There are some negatives too, more then I prefer. It could work out, it could flop, it's such a toss up I'm not sure if I like it or not. I'm going to have to sulk, I mean think, on this some more, do more research, read what others are saying, find out about the undrafted signees, then report back with another blog entry. This is just too much to absorb all at once. <br><br> Hope you had a happy draft day (ala 3 days) also known as the annual Lions superbowl. Shame it's not the crueling weekend long event it used to be but this format has it's pluses and minuses too. Kind of like the Lions draft. Think I'll pour myself a drink and contemplate life for awhile, then dig in some more for further analysis. Aloha. <br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-nfl-draft-rounds-4-7.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-7928514697296230100Sat, 02 May 2015 04:36:00 +00002015-05-01T23:38:33.354-05:002015 NFL Draft - Rounds 2 and 3<br>The not particularly ideal Lions draft continues on night two with the drafting of running back Ameer Abdullah from Nebraska with the 54th pick and then after trading up (and losing the 5th round pick they got from the 1st round trade) they select corner back (or maybe he's a safety) Alex Carter from Stanford with the 80th pick.<br><br> Why am I not entirely happy with the draft so far? Let's take them one round at a time. I had running back Ameer Abdullah ranked 60th on my board so he wasn't a reach per se as far as I am concerned, though NDT Scouting had him ranked as the 124th player on their board and Optimum Scouting had him ranked 77th overall. I had Ameer ranked as the 5th best RB in the draft, whereas NDT had him 13th and Opt S had him 8th. My main issue with the pick is hand size. A prototypical running back has a hand measurement of at least 9" (I prefer 9.5" myself), the reason for this is fumbles during the game and drops in the passing game. The bigger the hand size the better, typically. Some backs do overcome this but most have issues. Ameer's hand size is 8.38". He would not have even been on my draft board, period, regardless of how high I had him "ranked". Now there is plenty to like about him, he was a team captain, he was very productive with the cornhuskers, and he has very good agility, a nice burst (though he's not fast), he's decisive and he plays on special teams. He's only a bit over 5' 8" tall but weighs in at 198 pounds, which is not big unless you happen to be 3" shorter then a proto-typical running back. He will have issues doing blitz pickups, but will be a weapon running from the slot position. He will be able to hide behind the now larger OLine and spit out to the side taking the defenses by surprise. He has great vision and can juke his way around a lot of defenders when in the open. He had a fantastic Senior Bowl and made MVP. He might be your modern day Warrick Dunn if he can get some NFL gym time and good coaching. He may also fumble the ball at the worst possible times or get the QB killed by not picking up a blitz when he has to. This is not exactly the type of player I would target with my 2nd round pick but at least he ranked 4 spots better on my draft board then the Lions first round pick. Oh, and yes, he was on the Lions contact list.<br><br> In the third round the Lions were set to draft at pick #88 and a lot of the talent I would've liked them to take with their pick was falling to them... when suddenly they felt the need to trade away that high 5th round draft pick they got in round 1 from the Broncos to move up 8 spots to the 80th pick and select Cornerback Alex Carter who was 71st on my board. NDT had him at 24th (early 2nd round grade) and Optimum Scouting at 100 even (4th round grade). There was a whole lot of talent that was skipped in order to trade up 8 spots for Corner that Opt S and Huddle Report both didn't even bother doing a profile on. NDT did and apparently liked what they saw, the info I get is this: he's 6' tall and 196 pounds (basically my twin in height and weight). His hands measure 9.13" so perhaps interceptions are in his future. In fact, his measurements are what you look for in a corner. He went to Stanford so he's intelligent. He got high scores for measurements, talent, and leadership, but low scores for production. Perhaps he was used wrong. NDT commends him for his press man coverage abilities and though he lacks elite speed figures he can challenge any WR for a defense that employs man coverage (which the Lions do). Some question he may be a safety in the NFL but the Lions plan to use him outside at corner, so Mathis' protege. Was he worth both a 3rd round and a 5th round pick? I'm not quite as sure about that just yet.<br><br> I confess, when I started typing this blog I was still upset about the missed opportunities to take players I felt the Lions should have taken instead of who they did. After digging deeper in order to write this though I find that I'm just a little bit curious about what Alex Carter can do at corner in the future. I guess I can thank NDT for helping me sleep tonight. On the other hand Ameer Abdullah has so many pluses and minuses I don't know what to think, if he was a 4th rounder or later I'd be thrilled to have this part time weapon on the team... but I ranked him in the 2nd round, he was taken in the 2nd round, and so I shouldn't be upset... yet I'm still very nervous... I personally would never ever draft a running back with small hands. Ever. The Lions did and now I have to wait and see if he can overcome this product of his DNA. Oh, and Alex was also on the Lions contact list.<br><br> According to my board; the Lions have drafted the 64th, 60th and 71st ranked players, in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively. They gained Manny Ramirez for at least a year to either start at center or if needed, guard... or if the youth beats him out he will back up those positions, either way he will mentor the young guys during camp. The Lions gained a 5th round pick in 2016. They had gained a 5th rounder for 2015 as well but then used it up to get Alex Carter. They drafted a guard in round 1, which is something I would never do, but got more then just that from the move... including according to many the best pure guard in the entire draft. They got a very productive, agile, 3rd down back with small hands who is too small to pick up blitzes but can take it to the house if he gets some one-on-one routes going. They got a press man corner to coach up to be the eventual starter. I can't decide if I want to be happy, upset, interested or depressed. I do know this is not how I would have done the draft, but that doesn't mean they are wrong and I would've been right. Guess I need to sleep on it, maybe more then one sleep.<br><br> There is one more day to go in this year's draft. They no longer need a guard, or a running back, or a corner. They still could use a defensive tackle, or a right offensive tackle, and a fullback, and a fourth quarterback for camp, plus any other camp bodies they can acquire... so Saturday still holds some intrigue, but if it falls the way the first two nights of the draft have I may still cringe and type while trying to both cry and smile at the same time for a third night writing tomorrow nights blog.<br><br> Do I sound unsure? uncertain? dazed perhaps? happily depressed? The only thing that is going to cure me is if the good Mayhew shows up tomorrow instead of the bad Mayhew... if you know what I mean.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-nfl-draft-rounds-2-and-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-854861030632668861Fri, 01 May 2015 05:08:00 +00002015-05-01T01:42:32.765-05:002015 NFL Draft - Round 1<br>With the 28th pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select... Guard Laken Tomlinson from Duke... <br><br> Hold on... the 28th pick? Did you think they were supposed to draft 23rd? Well they were supposed to, until Martin Mayhew managed to seal the deal on the second (and only other) trade in the first round. The Lions traded away pick #23 to move down 5 spots to pick #28 and also got a fifth round (#143 overall) pick in this draft AND a fifth round pick from Denver in <b>2016</b> AND they also got starting center Manny Ramirez, a former 4th round Lions draft pick, who has one year left on his contract and is 32 years old. Most are saying he'll be the backup to Swanson, last year's 3rd round pick, but I believe ManRam will win the starting job for 2015 while Swanson continues to get stronger and learns from the vet... a situation that may continue beyond 2015. Of course, I'm biased, as I'm still not thrilled with the Swanson pick from last year. But you got to admit with Tomlinson (6'3" 323lbs) at LG, ManRam at C, and Warford at RG, the interior of the OLine would be quite formidable. <br><br> So I'm happy with the selection of a guard in the first round? No, not exactly. I don't hate it, and the Lions did in fact pick up a great deal of bonus with the trade, but Laken Tomlinson still was ranked as a 2nd round pick by me, the most recent 6 sites I checked with, and many others as well. Still, it's entirely possible that the Lions snagged two starting offensive line players with one first round pick, along with 2 extra draft picks... and that's not all bad. In fact, the more I think about it, and the more I look into it, and then after hearing why the Lions couldn't wait until round 2 to make this draft selection (apparently the Patriots were all set to draft him at 32), I start to like it more and more. I may even grow to love it, depending on how the rest of the draft goes.<br><br> Optimum Scouting's guide (a paid subscription) ranks Laken at 39, which is the best I've found so far. Taking him at 28 isn't all that bad when you add in the extra 5th for this year, the extra 5th next year, AND Manny. For that matter, Optimum Scouting had Laken as their top Guard, none better. The next best had a 3rd round grade. That's quite a gap. So I looked into it more... Laken benched 25 times (means he's strong)... started 52 straight games at RG (means he's durable)... is extremely smart with not one but two degrees and is considered to be a first class person with a huge work ethic (the coaches will love that). He has an NFL body and if he can make the switch to LG easily enough will be a dominant run blocker in the NFL. <Br><Br> My NDT guide (another paid subscription) says Laken was a team captain, had a great senior bowl, and ranked him 59th overall with zero red flags and zero injury concerns. His score placed him in the 2nd round as a reliable starter. Of course, as I said, he wasn't likely going to drop into the 2nd round as the Patriots were reported to be set to draft him at 32.<Br><br> I decided to read up on Laken at Huddle Report too (my other paid subscription) since those of you reading this can find for yourself the free sites with their profiles, the first sentence there reads "Laken is one of the best pulling guards in this draft" which is certainly a good thing, no, a great thing. Drew goes on to say "if he can just learn better in-line blocking techniques he could become an excellent left guard" ... now this was written in March and Drew had no clue who would be drafting him. He does warn that whoever his coaches end up being they will need to help mold Laken into the job but he believes the talent is there, hidden, waiting for a coach to find it... or some such comment as that.<br><br> So here you have a classy dude, smart, hard working, strong, able to do the hard things but needs some coaching to get up to NFL standards doing things that are teachable while he already does the things you can't teach. He "fits the suit" of guard, is already a good run blocker, and has kept his QB clean in college. Not a bad option to draft... considering the Lions other options for OL were either taken or are having some legal issues at this point in time.<Br><br> I predicted the Lions would go OL in round 1, but I also thought it would be a RT, alas that was not to be. Still, most all the potential defensive tackles I said the Lions might take in round one instead of OL are still available... and they still have a large contingent of options coming up. Laken was indeed on the contact list, but by my count right now the Lions have 21 contacted players on the list available to draft and ALL of them are ranked below pick 65 on my board. Obviously their board looks different then mine, but that's a lot of options in any draft, more then I've ever seen before. I've no idea who they will take but I'm still of the mind that DT might be very likely.<br><br> I'll have more on Laken and the other draft picks later... enjoy day 2 of the NFL draft and I'll catch you all up after it's over.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-nfl-draft-round-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-5070599998385499002Thu, 30 Apr 2015 03:23:00 +00002015-04-29T22:23:22.844-05:00The 2015 Detroit Lions Draft (Mock Scenarios)<br>The 2015 NFL draft is starting tomorrow night (or if you are reading this on Thursday, it starts tonight). So how will they actually do, who will they actually select? No one really has any idea. In fact, the Lions themselves have mocked it multiple times to be prepared for however the draft may fall yet by sitting at pick number 23 they won't have hit on the correct one even now... there are just too many scenarios that could play out, not just 23, since someone could (and likely will) trade into the first round above them to really throw a wrench into it. The only scenario I hope they skipped out of was trading up, I fail to see how giving away picks can make you a better team if you are trying to build your team through the draft, which the Lions are supposedly trying to do.<br><br> Since the Lions do not know who they will pick yet it's nigh on impossible for me to do it for them. But I will try anyway, because it's fun. Because I have all this time into it anyway so why not. Because, who knows, maybe I'm even right! So first I resist all temptation to move up in the draft to target a player, then when on the clock I listen to all offers to see if anyone else is crazy enough to want to move up to be able to get a good deal and trade down, garnering more picks. If there is no solid (or better) offer I make the selection... and that would be:<br><br> RT/G/LT La'el Collins from LSU. He's the 14th ranked player on my board and still available because of a police investigation that the police have stated does not include him as a suspect (heard they wanted him for maternity evaluation). He chose to leave Chicago and his one chance in life of being on TV for the draft to do what the police requested of him. Between what the police stated, how he handled this matter, and all previous contact with him most doubts are squashed and the selection is made. Now of course that's what I would do if he was still undrafted, what the Lions actually do is possibly another matter, the top 5 possibilities here are (of course, this is in my opinion):<br><br> RB Melvin (Mel) Gordon - Wisconsin<br>DT Arik Armstead - Oregon<br>DT Eddie Goldman - Florida State<br>OT T.J. Clemmings - Pittsburgh<Br>RB Todd Gurley - Georgia<br><br> Mainly because these 3 will already be gone:<br>DT Malcom Brown - Texas<br>WR DeVante Parker - Louisville<br>OT La'el Collins - LSU<br><br> and these two are not on the contact list, of course that could mean we just missed them or that the Lions didn't want to tip anyone off by being caught contacting them:<br><br> C Cameron Erving - Florida State<br>OT Ereck Flowers - Miami (Fla.)<br><br> Why is it important to be on the contact list? Because in the past most draft picks were, not always, but most of the time.<br><br> Any of these options will make the team better. Some even fill an important need. All could easily find a roster spot. So any of them are indeed possible unless there is a trade down, and even then some of them are still possible.<br><br> Okay, now it's Friday and round 2 begins. Assuming someone that will play on the offensive line was taken on Thursday night then in the 2nd round we can look at all positions other then that. My selection for the Lions, if the phones don't ring, would now be:<br><br> DT Michael Bennett - Ohio State. Ranked 52nd on my big board, fills a definite need, is unlikely to have his equal be available later in the draft, and is ranked as a possible first round option by some of the scouts. In other words, he would play a lot of snaps during his rookie year while he learns the NFL game.<br><br> Who else might the Lions select instead, or in case Michael is already on another team? The contact list and my big board would include these players:<br><Br> DT Jordan Phillips - Oklahoma<Br>DE Preston Smith - Mississippi State<Br>OT D.J. Humphries - Florida<Br>DT Carl Davis - Iowa<Br>DE Nate Orchard - Utah<Br>RB Jay Ajayi - Boise State<Br>CB/S Quinten Rollins - Miami (Ohio)<Br>CB/S P.J. Williams - Florida State<Br>WR Devin Smith - Ohio State<Br>WR Devin Funchess - Michigan<Br>WR Nelson Agholor - Southern California<Br>QB Brett Hundley - UCLA<Br>RB Duke Johnson - Miami (Fla.)<Br>RB Ameer Abdullah - Nebraska<Br>RB Tevin Coleman - Indiana<Br>OG Laken Tomlinson - Duke<Br><Br> Why so many names? The Lions did their due diligence on a lot of players because you never really know who will be available when they are on the clock... and you never know what kind of trade offers you may receive, not only in the first round but in round 2 as well... and because you don't know who you will get in the first round so you don't know what positions you need to still look at in round 2. Why so many running backs and wide receivers? Because sooner or later one of which (or more) will be selected. Does that mean they will in fact go offense again this round? No. Does that mean they won't? No. This selection will not be based on the previous one so much as making sure there is a roster spot for the pick. If you drafted a RT in round 1 you aren't going to take a RT in round 2; but might take a guard, or a RB, or a WR, or whomever. The above players might be available during round 2 and they are on the contact list and that is why I have shown them here. I would take DT Michael Bennett if he's still on the board, I'm hopeful the Lions would too, but that remains to be seen. Now if the Lions did take a DT in round 1 then I would change my selection in round 2 to OL D.J. Humphries, assuming he was not yet taken.<br><Br> On to round 3... the Lions may have addressed the trenches with their first two picks and they can't really expect their 3rd round pick to be a starter in his rookie year UNLESS he plays guard, or will split RB duties, or will be a backup WR and also the kick returner. So if he's available (and I truly hope he is but probably won't be) my selection would be:<Br><br> WR Tyler Lockett - Kansas State. If he's still undrafted when the Lions pick I fully expect this to be their selection as it would be mine. However, it's a long way for Tyler to last so the other options now are:<br><br> RB Jeremy Langford - Michigan State<br>C Reese Dismukes - Auburn<br>OG Ali Marpet - Hobart<br>OG Tre' Jackson - Florida State<br>RB David Johnson - Northern Iowa<br>WR Tre' McBride - William & Mary<br>CB Doran Grant - Ohio State<br>WR Justin Hardy - East Carolina<br><br> The Lions also have a number of DTs, DEs, FS, SS, OTs and others on their contact list, so if they went RB or WR or OG earlier then those names would come into play. I'm not going to list all of them here simply because I don't think it's going to happen that way... so I may have to scamper to fix this between Thursday night and Friday night if things don't go so well in round 1.<br><br> The Lions don't currently have a 4th round pick BUT they may pick one up via trade. It could be a player, a pick earlier in the draft, or even a 3rd rounder from 2016. IF they end up getting a 4th rounder then my pick would be:<br><br> RB Javorius (Buck) Allen - Southern California. He will drop in the draft as he's not considered an every down running back at this point in time, though he could develop into one. What he is is a pass blocking pass catching type RB... exactly what the Lions lost when they cut Reggie Bush. A backup to Riddick, or someone who can beat him out of his roster spot during camp. Someone who can get snaps in his rookie year. A co-starter. Now the Lions may not end up with a 4th round pick and may have to wait until round 5 for their next selection, it's possible Buck will last that long too... or any of these other players could end being a Lion, or even two of them should the Lions acquire an extra pick before round 6 starts.<br><br> CB Eric Rowe - Utah<br>CB Steven (Steve) Nelson - Oregon State<br>WR Tony Lippett - Michigan State<br>OG Jamil Douglas - Arizona State<br>OG Jeremiah Poutasi - Utah<br>WR Kenny Bell - Nebraska<br>WR Chris Conley - Georgia<br>RB Malcolm Brown - Texas<br><br> and once again there are a number of other names both on and off the contact list that I could add here but will wait until Friday night/Saturday noon to add after I see what the first 3 rounds bring.<br><br> Now we get to round 6, finally, sometime Saturday afternoon and for the Lions I select:<br><br> OG Ben Beckwith - Mississippi State. Big Ben is 6'4" tall and weights in at 317 pounds. Some other options the Lions may consider include those above who dropped into round 6 plus these names:<br><br> WR Titus Davis - Central Michigan<br>DT Louis Trinca-Pasat - Iowa<br>WR Jamarcus (JJ) Nelson - UAB<br>RB Marcus Murphy - Missouri<br>RB John Crockett - North Dakota State<br>QB Brandon Bridge - South Alabama<br><br> Now I got to admit, drafting a WR with the first name of Titus gives me the shivers but the guy shouldn't be punished for what his parents named him. Also, QB Brandon Bridge I fully expect will make it until after the draft as an undrafted free agent and still be signed by the Lions but they might not want to take that chance. <br><br> In the 7th round you usually don't expect to find a starter but there is one position that needs to be addressed on the team yet and a rookie could fill that starting role... so my pick if he's still on my board is:<br><br> TE/FB Jimmay Mundine - Kansas. Fullbacks tend to end up undrafted but I can see the Lions wanting to get a full slate of contributors out of this draft and this would do the job nicely. A few other options if he's gone are:<br><br> FB Jalston Fowler - Alabama<br>QB Brandon Bridge - South Alabama<br>S Brian Blechen - Utah<br>OLB/DE Marcus Rush - Michigan State<br><br> Then after the draft all of these names above are in play along with:<br><Br> K Kyle Brindza (camp kicker)<br>G Antoine Everett<Br>DT Angelo Blackson<br>WR/KR Kaelin Clay<br> So there you have it... my Lions mock and other possibilities based on my big board, the Lions roster needs, and the contact list. Just to summarize it for you, not by round but by selection:<br><br> 1. RT/G/LT La'el Collins - LSU (or Clemings, or Erving, or Flowers or anyone OL)<br>2. DT Michael Bennett - Ohio State (or other DT)<br>3. WR Tyler Lockett - Kansas State (or other kick returner)<br>4. RB Javorius (Buck) Allen - Southern California (or other RB for the RBBC)<br>5. OG Ben Beckwith - Mississippi State (or other guard)<br>6. TE/FB Jimmay Mundine - Kansas (or other fullback)<br><br> and every single one of my picks would get playing time their rookie year... some of them significant playing time.<br><br>Now we wait to see what will really happen. Enjoy.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-2015-detroit-lions-draft-mock.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-5750904411310603459Mon, 20 Apr 2015 05:35:00 +00002015-04-21T19:09:58.430-05:002015 Detroit Lions Draft (pre-analysis)<br>It's time to see what the Lions have been up to this off season and what that could lead to in the 2015 NFL Draft that begins April 30th in Chicago. Pulling from a number of sources I offer the following information and analysis:<br><br> From the official website of the Detroit Lions (<a href="http://www.detroitlions.com">http://www.detroitlions.com</a>) I took their transaction list, re-sorted it from oldest to newest, added the draft picks actually traded, and come up with the following off season moves to date:<br><Br> 1/7/2015: The Detroit Lions sign C Taylor Boggs, C Braxston Cave, WR Skye Dawson, LB Jerrell Harris, DT Kerry Hyder, FB Emil Igwenagu, DB Nate Ness, WR Andrew Peacock, DT Roy Philon, DT Xavier Proctor, TE Jordan Thompson and OT Michael Williams to 2015 Reserve/Future contracts.<br>1/8/2015: The Detroit Lions have signed DB Crezdon Butler to a 2015 Reserve/Future contract.<br>1/10/2015: The Detroit Lions sign DT Jermelle Cudjo to a 2015 Reserve/Future contract.<br>2/3/2015: The Detroit Lions release TE Ifeanyi Momah.<br>2/6/2015: The Detroit Lions sign C Darren Keyton.<br>2/25/2015: The Detroit Lions release RB Reggie Bush.<br>2/27/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign LS Don Muhlbach.<br>2/27/2015: The Detroit Lions sign DE Phillip Hunt.<br>3/2/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign QB Dan Orlovsky.<br>3/2/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign DL Darryl Tapp.<br>3/6/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign K Matt Prater.<br>3/6/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign QB Kellen Moore.<br>3/10/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign LB Josh Bynes.<br>3/11/2015: The Detroit Lions have traded a 5th and a 6th round draft pick for DT Haloti Ngata and a 7th round draft pick from the Baltimore Ravens.<br>3/11/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign safety Isa Abdul-Quddus.<br>3/13/2015: The Detroit Lions sign DT Tyrunn Walker.<br>3/19/2015: The Detroit Lions re-sign CB Rashean Mathis.<br>4/7/2015: The Detroit Lions sign LB Brandon Copeland and CB Josh Wilson.<br>4/15/2015: The Detroit Lions have traded DE George Johnson and a 7th round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 5th round draft pick.<br><br> I then took the transaction list and using data from a minimum of three sources created my 2015 Lions salary cap chart located at <a href="http://www.theNetRat.com/salarycap.html">http://www.theNetRat.com/salarycap.html</a>. I then confirmed the final total with the NFL Players Union (the NFLPA) at <a href="http://www.nflpa.com">http://www.nflpa.com</a>. I can confirm the Lions currently have 66 players under contract or tendered (as in a restricted free agent offer) and due to only the top 51 contracts counting against the salary cap this time of the year they have $5,202,293 in available salary cap space (as of the date of this blog entry).<br><br> Confirming the information once again at the official Lions website, the Lions now have the following draft picks:<br>Round . Pick . Overall pick<br>1 ..... 23 ..... 23<br>2 ..... 22 ..... 54<br>3 ..... 24 ..... 88<br>5 ..... 32 .... 168<br>6 ..... 24 .... 200<br>7 ..... 23 .... 240<br><br> They were not awarded any compensatory draft picks this year as they signed too many free agents last year, an explanation of compensatory draft picks and the 2014 free agent moves that affected the 2015 comp picks is at <a href="http://overthecap.com/compensatory-draft-picks-cancellation-chart/">http://overthecap.com/compensatory-draft-picks-cancellation-chart/</a> (click on the 2015 tab). You will find links there to the super secret formula the NFL apparently uses to compute these picks and also, by clicking on the 2016 tab, you can see that so far the Lions are doing everything right in 2015 to gain as many as the maximum four picks in the 2016 draft... a feat they have not accomplished in a very long time. A feat that many of the top teams utilize year in and year out to garner more draft picks and thus have a higher percentage of young talent added to their team allowing them to ... oh anyway, the Lions are sitting pretty for next year's draft (and they have a ton of free cap space next year as well).<br><Br> Next I have a couple of people who are active in my forum (thank you Captain and LionHawk and all the others who chip in) who keep track of all Lions contacts, not just the 30 invites to Allen Park but also contacts at pro-days, the Senior bowl, the east-west Shrine game, the combine, and many other locations. In the past we have been able to narrow down the Lions possible draft picks by looking at this contact list, some years including every pick and in others missing half or fewer. That means when complete this contact list will have anywhere from 3 to all 6 of the Lions picks on it. The list is updated regularly at <a href="http://badnetrat.proboards.com/thread/7685/2015-contact-list">http://badnetrat.proboards.com/thread/7685/2015-contact-list</a> (you'll need to join the forum).<br><br> I also use my salary cap chart to create an estimated depth chart. At the bottom there are multiple tabs and I am currently on the "pre-draft" tab in attempting to estimate the Lions likeliest final 53 what with the current roster and potential future moves (ie: the draft, and after that, some more free agency). The link to the estimated depth chart can be found at <a href="http://www.theNetRat.com/depthchart.html">http://www.theNetRat.com/depthchart.html</a> <br><br> Finally, I tie all of this up with my best estimate of BAPTFAN (Best Available Player That Fills Any Need), a variation of BPA (or Best Player Available) that many teams use in having a successful draft. The description for this, in fact my entire pre-draft article from last year, can be found at <a href="http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014_04_01_archive.html">http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014_04_01_archive.html</a> and my personally created Big Board (top 100 are at http://www.theNetRat.com/draft.html) to provide you with the following roster analysis and scenarios that could play out in the 2015 draft.<br><br><hr><br><br> It is possible the Lions will stand pat with Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Dan Orlovsky and Kellen Moore. It's also possible that if at any time during the draft a QB they like is one of the best players available they may consider a competition in camp for the 3rd QB position. By all accounts however, this is not exactly a deep draft for QB in the later rounds (where the Lions can afford to look for a #3 QB) so it's much more likely they will pick up a camp QB in the undrafted ranks. Brandon Bridge from South Alabama, should he not get drafted, might be their target here (he is on the contact list). Another that I like is Cody Fajardo from Nevada, but to date he is not on the Lions contact list. By picking up an undrafted QB they will likely keep both Orlovsky and Moore instead of them competing for the #2 spot (and keeping the mid-to-late-round draft pick QB as the #3, such as Brett Hundley or Bryce Petty) knowing they can cut and likely sign the UDFA to the practice squad later. <br><br> Everyone assumes that since the Lions cut RB Reggie Bush that they will automatically be looking to draft a Running Back in the 2015 draft. It is entirely possible the Lions are quite prepared to go into this season with Joique Bell, Theo Riddick and George Winn as the running back corp. It's also possible they will, after mid-March when it will no longer count against the compensatory picks for next year, sign a free agent RB such as Knowshon Moreno, Pierre Thomas or Ahmad Bradshaw among others. Even if they do sign a free agent they may still draft a running back in the draft, only later on. The Lions contact list at RB currently includes two first rounders, a first/second rounder, three pure second rounders, two third rounders, a fourth, a sixth and a seventh rounder along with two probably undrafted players. With a spread like that it's obvious to me they are looking at all rounds as a potential spot to land a RB this year to join the corp they already have. I will be keeping an eye on Jay Ajayi, but he's not the only one on my watch list.<br><Br> After drafting Eric Ebron last year it's pretty much assumed that he, Brandon Pettigrew (who's salary is guaranteed and will not be cut this year), and Joseph Fauria will be the entire TE corp. That's pretty much the likeliest scenario, but the Lions are in need of a blocking TE, or perhaps a combo fullback/tightend, someone versatile enough to both block very well and catch the occasional pass or two per game. The Lions have on their contact list currently a second rounder and two potential undrafted players. I suspect Jimmay Mundine just might get a call from the Lions after the draft if he makes it to that point.<br><br> At WR the Lions currently have Calvin Johnson and his backup Corey Fuller, Golden Tate and his backup Ryan Broyles, then there's T.J. Jones, Andrew Peacock, and Skye Dawson fighting for a roster spot. In the past Jeremy Ross would be penciled in for the last WR spot, as both depth at WR and the kick/punt returner... and the Lions did indeed re-sign him... but it is in my estimation the Lions will indeed draft another WR this year, if not two, and at least one of them will have had experience at returning kicks, and will have been fairly successful at it as well. I am confident that Jeremy Ross will have big time competition in camp this year for his roster spot. It's also possible that one of the other groups mentioned above will also have competition in camp for a roster spot. The Lions contact list contains more WRs then any other position, many of them 1st and 2nd rounders. Many more 4th round through undrafted. But the one name that keeps me thinking WR in the 3rd (if he's still there) is Tyler Lockett. <br><br> We're all done with offense... except for the most important part... the offensive line. With Dominic Raiola told he won't be coming back the Lions have begun the process of changing what was perhaps the worst unit on the offense. Meanwhile, Rob Sims has not yet been re-signed, by the Lions or any other team for that matter, despite his game improving significantly towards the end of the season as his health improved. Riley Reiff has been okay at left tackle but certainly no one will confuse him with pro-bowl talent at present. Warford, when he stays healthy, is perhaps the best player on the OL. Meanwhile, Waddle who did well at the start of his forced playing time has slipped a little of late and has also become somewhat unreliable (to be available to play) due to constant injuries. What free agents the Lions get later on (probably Sims to a one year vet deal) and what competition they will bring in to bolster the trenches on offense is still wide open, but it's almost guaranteed that there will indeed be new blood. The contact list currently has 16 OL names on it, with more to come. Look for both a guard and a tackle to have their names called during the course of this draft.<br><br> What does one of the top defenses in the NFL last year need in this draft? Most would say a defensive tackle. Most would be correct. Oh sure, the Lions could go with Tyrunn Walker, Haloti Ngata, Caraun Reid and then either sign (or re-sign) a free agent DT to compete with Kerry Hyder, Roy Philon, Jermelle Cudjo, and Xavier Proctor for the final spot or two on the DL, but it's almost guaranteed that at least one DT will be selected at some point in this draft. First round? Not necessarily! Just because Suh and Fairley left in free agency does not mean the Lions are desperate and will take a DT that early. Doesn't mean they won't either. With 14 DTs on the contact list (and 5 DE's) it's even possible they will select more then one. It just so happens 6 of the DTs on the contact list could go in the first round and it also so happens that it's pretty good value at 23 in the first round to draft one, if he's ranked high enough.<br><Br> I fully expect the DEs in 2015 to be Jason Jones, Darryl Tapp, Ziggy Ansah, and Larry Webster. That said, they could keep a 5th or bring in strong competition for Darryl Tapp's roster spot. That spot could also be won by Devin Taylor or Phillip Hunt as well. I think it would take a mighty good DE for the Lions to select one in this year's draft.<Br><Br> At Linebacker the Lions are very strong. Deandre Levy, Kyle Van Noy, Tahir Whitehead, Stephen Tulloch, Travis Lewis, Brandon Copeland, and Josh Bynes won't even need competition from the draft to make this a competitive situation. A camp body/practice squad candidate is still an option, but highly unlikely in my opinion.<br><br> At Safety the Lions have Glover Quinn, James Ihedigbo, Isa Abdul-Quddus, Don Carey, and Crezdon Butler competing for roster spots. With only 3 safeties on their contact list this too would appear to be a low priority draft option. Though I think losing Couplin to another team last year when they exposed him to waivers was a mistake. Keep an eye on Brian Blechen if he goes undrafted.<br><Br> That leaves us with Cornerback (as they aren't drafting a kicker or punter this year). The elder Rashean Mathis and the upcomer Darius Slay will be the starters but they could use a nickel CB to groom as Mathis' eventual replacement. Most of the corners on the contact list appear to be 4th round candidates. Makes me wonder if they might not trade a 2016 3rd rounder for a 2015 4th round pick and select one this year. They should have an extra 3rd rounder next year as a compensatory pick for losing Suh so they could trade their normal 3rd rounder and still keep a 3rd rounder for the next draft.<br><Br> This is perhaps the longest blog entry for me ever. If you stuck with me this long then thank you, I hope at least some of my rambling makes sense. I may make one more post just before the draft begins presenting my mock Lions draft based on the above information. Once again we all await the Lions superbowl (aka, the NFL Draft) may it be a great one!<br><Br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/04/2015-detroit-lions-draft-pre-analysis.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-3649428975381460976Mon, 12 Jan 2015 02:24:00 +00002015-01-11T22:16:44.257-05:00First week of the 2015 off season for the Lions<br>Now that the Detroit Lions are out of the playoff picture it's time to set our sights on the 2015 team. The first issue with the off season is that there are no less then 3 clubs thinking about signing the Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin as their new head coach. I think most Lions fans would agree that keeping him as the DC is likely very critical to having a chance at a decent 2015. Here's hoping he remains right where he currently is.<br><br> The next issue for the team is taking a look at the salary cap situation. The Lions had 39 players with 2015 contracts, 1 of which is Ndamukong Suh who's contract voids 5 days after the super bowl. The Lions then proceeded to sign 14 guys to future/reserve contracts. These are contracts that will take affect when the new league year officially starts. 5 days after the super bowl they can sign one more, or keep the spot open to franchise tag Suh (a very expensive gamble if they go that route, more on this later). The 39 original 2015 contracts plus the 14 future/reserve contracts gives the Lions 53 players using up $126,285,255 of the 2015 salary cap (this will change nearly every day during the off season as moves are made).<br><br> The Lions had $939,170 in 2014 cap they did not use up, this will be carried forward into 2015. <br><br> The NFL has not yet set the official cap space each team can use in 2015, though they did say that for now use the number $138 million. I actually think the real cap number for each team will approach $142 million, this is just my educated guess however. If I am correct, then you would add the carryover to the cap limit and the Lions would have $142,939,170 to work with. With $126,285,255 already committed, that gives them $16,653,915 in salary cap to work with. Once the new league year officially starts only the top 51 contracts will count against the cap for the entire off season until about a week before kickoff of week 1 in September. Between now and then they will try to re-sign many of their own free agents, bring in new blood through free agency, select their players from the NFL draft, and turn over every stone they can to find guys to fill the 90 man roster they can take into OTAs (Organized Team Activities) and Mini-Camps.<br><br> Here are the 14 guys they signed to future/reserve contracts:<br> RB Emil Igwenagu<br>WR Skye Dawson<br>WR Andrew Peacock<br>WR/TE Ifeanyi Momah<br>TE Jordan Thompson<br>C Taylor Boggs<br>C Braxston Cave<br>OT Michael Williams<br>DE/DT Kerry Hyder<br>DE/DT Roy Philon<br>DT Xavier Proctor<br>LB Jerrell Harris<br>S Nate Ness<br>CB Crezdon Butler<br><br> The Detroit Lions draft 23rd in the 2015 draft which will be held April 30th - May 2nd in Chicago. I estimate they will need $4,253,600 for the rookie salary cap pool (the amount of cap space needed to sign all their draft picks). They will have no problem doing that as only the top 51 contracts count throughout the off season.<br><br> The Lions also have a number of free agents, guys who's contracts expire. The main being Ndamukong Suh. I expect them to try to re-sign him to a multi-year deal worth around $15 to $16 million a year. Anything more then that and I expect he'll be playing for another team instead. The Lions have 14 other guys without contracts too, some of them they will want back and some of them they will not. Hopefully they are able to sign all of the ones they do want back. I know I would like to see a lot of them back myself, such as the kicker Matt Prater, DE Darryl Tapp, DT CJ Mosley, maybe even DT Nick Fairley among others. My current estimated depth chart (color coded to show the free agents) is an excel spreadsheet that can be found at <a href="http://www.theNetRat.com/depthchart.html">http://www.theNetRat.com/depthchart.html</a> (watch the tabs at the bottom). There are also a few free agents I would prefer not to see back, such as C Dominic Raiola and KR Jeremy Ross. That said, if they could be signed for vet minimum it wouldn't hurt to have them on the team until someone else actually takes their job away in camp (which for those two I am thinking might actually happen).<br><br> If the Lions do re-sign all the free agents there won't be room for all the draft picks on the final 53 ... meaning some later round draft picks might not make the team, or some vets might be replaced with newbies. This is a scenario the team hasn't really had to contend with in quite some time. We fans might not be ready for that kind of roster turnover just yet, but I suspect we will have to start (getting used to it).<br><br> My salary cap chart for 2015 is also updated, it can be found at the same link as above, just click on the menu for salary cap instead of depth chart. Next blog, a little more information on the roster as I see it, both this past year and the upcoming one. If I get too wordy I may break it up into several entries, we shall see how that goes.<br><br> For now, the Lions have 53 contracts (52 once Suh's is voided 5 days after the super bowl) and enough salary cap to re-sign whichever free agents of their own they want. The plan always was to build through the draft and they should have no problem signing those picks either. As for being a player in free agency, that would depend on who is available and for how much, and who they wanted back but were unable to sign. I foresee a couple moves, but I don't foresee a ton of them. Somewhat like last year, only maybe not quite as active.<br><br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/01/first-week-of-2015-off-season-for-lions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-4048382216207328504Mon, 05 Jan 2015 02:18:00 +00002015-01-04T22:23:36.457-05:002014 Game 17 - Lions @ Dallas Cowboys (wildcard playoffs)<br>Officiating. <br><br> The Detroit Lions lost to the NFL Officials 20-24 today... err, I mean, to the Dallas Cowboys of course. I can't even read a headline about the Cowboys win without putting an asterisk at the end of the sentence. There is simply no way a Lions fan could have watched the game and not have an extremely negative opinion on the officiating. For that matter, neutral viewers and even a few Cowboy fans would follow suit... though the Cowboy fans would have to stop laughing first. If I can think of some way to boycott the NFL and still watch my team I would.<br><br> The Lions had the lead, were within field goal range with a pass interference penalty on the Cowboys, the official announced the penalty over the PA system, the players moved down the field a ways, then the flag was picked up, after a Cowboy player ran onto the field without his helmet and complained about the call. He too should have been flagged, but was not. The drive resulted in a punt instead of points and then Dallas scored the game winning TD immediately after (because of course our star young punter had to shank the punt).<br><br> <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6jPv6kCcAE0LjZ.jpg"></a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6jPv6kCcAE0LjZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6jPv6kCcAE0LjZ.jpg" /></a></div><br><br> During the game the officials failed to call holding well over a dozen times, but I was prepared for that, as they did the same thing in New Orleans a couple years ago. I warned many all week leading up to the game that the officials would take away the effectiveness of the DL unless the DL actually sacked or pressured Romo, which they did early but failed to keep doing it all game long. Also during the game a Dallas player stomped on Bell and that was not called, we shall see if he gets a $70,000 fine, but I suspect not.<br><br> <a href="http://vine.co/v/Odpl2tXAa5A"></a> <br> (had a link here, it's been taken down already, of the stomp)<br><br> I shall try this one instead.<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6jAbtHCIAARub6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6jAbtHCIAARub6.jpg" /></a></div><br><br> Now that the Lions lost* this game, they are set to pick 23rd in the upcoming NFL draft. Since I am pretty sure you can't draft officials we will need to set our sites on possibly new players... after we see if the Lions lose their DC to a head coaching job elsewhere... and free agency... and all the rest, you know the drill. Of course, the Lions could get a party bus instead of drafting an official, as TMZ posted this pic of the head of officiating exiting a Cowboys party bus that started circulating on twitter during the game (I'm sure it was well before that, just hadn't noticed).<br><br><a href="http://t.co/Br2D12gsMG"></a><br> (had a link here too, it's also now gone, of the official exiting the bus) <br><br> Anyway, Matthew Stafford was 28 of 42 (66.667%) for 323 yards a TD and an INT (sacked 3 times). The Lions defense kept Romo to 19 of 31 (61.29%) for 293 yards 2 TDs and 0 INTs (sacked 6 times). They also kept the run game to 75 yards but allowed one rushing TD. The Lions still need to work more on special teams, but overall I'd say this game was lost due to turnovers and officiating.<br><br> Many Lions fans would say officiating, first last and everything inbetween. However, until someone can tell me how we fans can fine the officials for stomping on the Lions all we got to work with is getting better, so much better that our team can beat another team AND the officials. For that is what it will take. <br><br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2015/01/2014-game-17-lions-dallas-cowboys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-4433072789617006728Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:36:00 +00002014-12-28T22:51:12.894-05:002014 Game 16 - Lions @ Green Bay Packers<br>Clinched. <br><br>The 11-5 Detroit Lions lose to the 12-4 Green Bay Packers 20-30 in Lambeau Field, again, for the 23rd year in a row allowing the Packers to clinch the NFC North, get a bye week in the playoffs, and get home field in the playoffs as the number 2 seed. Had the Lions won they would have had all of those things for themselves, the record, the bye week, the banner, the home field, all of it. Instead though, the Lions found multiple ways to blow the game.<br><br> That doesn't mean the Lions are out of the playoffs though, now they get to play next week in the wildcard game on Sunday at 4:40pm et, in Dallas. Their opponents will include the former Lions head coach Rod Marinelli as the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys, and Scott Linehan, the former offensive coordinator for the Lions under Jim Schwartz, who has the same position in Dallas. If the current Lions players feel about these former coaches as many fans do they would do everything they can to not just win the game but to tromp on Dallas hard. Not tromp like Suh did to Rodger's leg (whether intentionally or not is yet to be judged) but figuratively, as in on the score board. Hopefully Suh will be available to play in that game. In fact, hopefully, everyone currently on the roster will be available for the game, such as the oft injured right guard Warford, the currently suspended center Raiola, and various others who have bumps and bruises here or there, not the least of which is Nick Fairley.<Br><br> Where was I? Oh yeah, multiple ways to blow the game... let's start with allowing the Packers to return a punt for a touchdown, or kicking the ball off out of bounds to give them the ball on the 40, or not trying for a field goal when just in range (actually I was okay with that one). Basically special teams made mistakes and that helped the Packers win the game. But they were not alone. Bell never cradled a hand off and fumbled the ball away, Stafford tried several times to complete passes not with his feet pointing in the wrong direction but off the ground entirely (and missing the target every time horribly). The offensive line was a patchwork once again and played like it, only worse. Then the NFL's number 2 defense decided to take the day off allowing 152 yards rushing and 232 yards passing along with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions and only 1 sack. Matthew Stafford was 20 of 41 (48.78%) for 217 yards 3 TDs and 0 INTs.<br><br> I would be remiss if I didn't complain at least a little about the officiating in the Packers game. As I recall, the Packers and Lions Offensive Lines never once held anyone, the whole game. Unbelievable isn't it? Oh, and even though the Lions made a 2 point conversion it was taken back after review in which the angle I saw on tv appeared to be correctly called on the field and definitely not worth reversing... especially since earlier they gave a TD to a running Rodgers who was down before the goal line and was awarded the TD anyway. But, it wasn't the officiating that cost the Lions the game, wasn't even the Packers, it was the Lions. They and they alone get to be responsible for the outcome of the game.<br><br> Now that the Lions regular season is over and their spot in the playoffs secured (as the 6th seed) we fans got to find out their 2015 opponents (not the schedule, that comes out in April). The Lions will be playing the NFC and AFC West teams, along with their divisional foes, and the picture looks like this: ( info provided by http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2014/12/28/7437845/detroit-lions-2015-schedule-opponents )<br><br> Home opponents: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, and the Philadelphia Eagles.<br><br> Away opponents: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs (in London), San Diego Chargers, and the New Orleans Saints.<br><br> Does reading that list of opponents for next year make you clinch anything? Anyway, the Lions made it to 11-5 and the playoffs. 11 wins is something they have done so few times in their history that you can count the number on one hand. They are the final wild card team and play in Dallas next week against a couple of their former coaches. All good things... except that Matthew Stafford has never ever won an away game against a team with a winning record. If that doesn't make you clinch something, then I don't know what will.<br><br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-game-16-lions-green-bay-packers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-6608254793717136742Mon, 22 Dec 2014 02:32:00 +00002014-12-21T21:32:30.237-05:002014 Game 15 - Lions @ Chicago Bears<br>Cold. <br><br>The 11-4 Detroit Lions narrowly beat the 5-10 Chicago Bears 20-14 but had already been guaranteed a playoff spot before the game even started virtue of the Philadelphia Eagles losing their game this week. The Bears was an outside game, and cold, and the Lions rarely win when it's under 40 degrees out... but this time they did just enough to end whatever streak they were on there. This is also only the fourth time the Lions have won 11 games in a season, ever. On top of that, Matthew Stafford topped 4,000 yards for the fourth straight year and Calvin Johnson has once again topped 1,000 yards (I think that makes 6 years for him). <br><br> None of this information would've been the least interesting had the Lions lost and they very nearly did. Not because Chicago is a better team, or was playing better, but because of 4 plays. WR/KR Ross allowed a punt to hit him and Chicago recovered the ball in the red zone which led immediately to 7 points for them. Also on special teams, backup TE Stanford ran into the kicker giving the Bears a new set of downs which led to another 7 points. A third difference making play was Matthew Stafford's first interception, on a bad throw/decision. The forth play I am referring to was another interception that was due to Tate not taking the route that Stafford had anticipated him taking, and was therefor out of his reach, in the end zone. So basically special teams gave up the yardage necessary for the Bears to score 14 points when the defense had already stopped them and Stafford (with help from Tate) threw 2 interceptions that cost them 14 points. The score could easily have been in the area of 34 to 0. Even though they didn't lose this one, they still allowed the cold to affect them.<br><br> Matthew Stafford was 22 of 39 (56.41%) for 243 yards, 0 TDs and 2 INTs. Bell and Bush combined for 128 rushing yards and 2 TDs, though Bell didn't play the entire first quarter due to violating team rules (likely late for a meeting). Prater did the rest. On defense the Lions allowed only 64 yards rushing, 55 from Forte, but they did allow Clausen who hasn't played in years to be 23 of 39 (58.97%) for 181 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. Clausen faced a much better defense and yet completed 1 more pass on the same number of attempts, Stafford really needs to focus better if the Lions are going to do anything at all in the post season.<br><br> Next up (and the last one for the regular season) is for the NFC North division title, in Green Bay. Whoever wins is the North Division champs and gets a first week bye in the playoffs, whoever loses gets a wildcard spot. Other teams will determine which seed each team will end up as. Every player on the Lions will have to do much better in the cold of Lambeau Field to win this one, and winning it could really help them not only with the bye, but home field in the playoffs. Merry Christmas everyone.<br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-game-15-lions-chicago-bears.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-2177760900452706681Mon, 15 Dec 2014 03:52:00 +00002014-12-14T23:33:20.461-05:002014 Game 14 - Detroit Lions vs Minnesota Vikings @ Home<br>Kickers! <br><br> The now division leading 10-4 Detroit Lions narrowly beat the 6-8 Minnesota Vikings effectively taking the Vikings out of their playoff hopes by a score of 16-14. It has been a very long time since the Lions were sitting at the top of the NFC North after 15 weeks of play, but before we crown them the second coming of all thinks football let us realize they won because the free agent kicker they picked up (Prater) made all 3 field goals and the established kicker for the Vikings (Walsh) missed all 3 (very very long) field goals.<br><br> Matthew Stafford was only 17 of 28 (60.714%) for 1 TD and 0 INTs while the defense allowed Bridgewater to be 31 of 41 (75.6%) for 1 TD but 2 INTs. The Lions managed to eek out 90 yards of rushing while the Vikings only managed 76 yards. Despite these lopsided figures the true difference in the game was field position and the kickers.<br><br> Okay, the Lions safety's also contributed mightily with their 2 interceptions, without which the Lions would not be 10-4. So kudos to the Lions safeties and Matt Prater... game balls all around for them please.<br><br> I was actually worried about this game not due it being a supposed trap game, but due to the fact that N. Suh had had the flu (along with others) starting a few days ago, and back then I realized the timing was such that they could've infected many on the team earlier in the week and they would only begin to be symptomatic on Sunday (today). Not saying that is what happened, but boy the offense and defense sure looked like they were running in mud for a good part of the first quarter and a half. Then suddenly the Lions offensive coordinator held an on field meeting with all the offensive players and the next thing we know the penalties stop (on O) and things start to slowly get better (and faster). I would give the next game ball to the OC after Quinn and IH and Prater.<br><br> The Lions get to set their sites on the Bears who they play next week and who have been struggling mightily this year. The Lions need to continue to win to control their own destiny and to keep the players and fans into the game, for if I were to look ahead (and I am trying not to) the Lions <i>could</i> have a home playoff game (or more then one even) and it's critical that every aspect of the game fall in their favor for the wins to keep happening, after all, you don't want the kicker to be winning or losing (as happened earlier in the year) your games for you if you can help it.<br><br> One other note, if the Lions beat the Bears and the Packers lose next week... the final game of the year in Lambeau against the Packers may still be critical in that losing that game still ties the Packers and the Lions and since they would have split in head to head the additional tie breaker rules would apply... possibly (probably) making the Packers the division champs (and giving them the bye week). True the Lions would likely still make the playoffs at 11-5 as a wildcard team, and also true I am not particularly keen on having a team take a week off as the playoffs start (this isn't FFL after all, the guys need to keep up with game speed) ... I still would like to see the Lions make it deep into the playoffs no matter the consequences or obstacles... even if it means winning all the games from here on out by their street pickup (and former Lion and Bronco) kicker.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-game-14-detroit-lions-vs-minnesota.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-7931641043933195156Mon, 08 Dec 2014 06:05:00 +00002014-12-08T01:05:54.470-05:002014 Game 13 - Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Home<br>Dominating. <br><br> The 9-4 Detroit Lions took the lead in the first quarter against the 2-11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and never relinquished it, winning the 2nd to the last home game by a score of 34-17. Matthew Stafford was 26 of 34 (76.47%) for 311 yards 3 TDs and 0 INTs. A franchise QB like performance. The defense also did their part with 6 sacks, 2 interceptions, a large number of hurries and holding the Buccaneers to 26 yards rushing, 2 TDs, and only 250 passing yards. McCown barely broke 50% completions and if it weren't for Vincent Jackson the entire team would've looked like a high school team against the Lions super competitive defense. Dominating. <br><br> I could spout numbers, or play outcomes, or any number of things and it would all come down one word... dominating. The Detroit Lions dominated the Buccaneers and that's all there is to it. I'm finding it difficult to even write up a blog about this particular game... and as a Lions fan... that is a good thing.<br><br> Oh sure, there was a few things that in film the coaches will see and address, there are a number of plays that certain players would like to have back, there are even a few flags that either weren't thrown that should have been or were thrown and should not have been... but in the end, in THIS game, there can be no other outcome then for the Lions to have won the game. If one was inclined to nickname a team from this one game it could be that the Detroit Lions could now be called the Detroit Dominators. Catchy isn't it?<br><br> Next week is the final home game against the Minnesota Vikings, to be followed by 2 road games against the Bears and Packers. Three all important divisional games in what has become a very talented conference and division. There can be no room for error, the Lions need to dominate every week if they have hopes of making the post season... and with a performance like today there is no reason to not obtain that goal. Can the Detroit Dominators make a playoff run from their current 9-4 position? Sure. Will they? Well, that remains to be seen. I for one will be watching for just that. <br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-game-13-detroit-lions-vs-tampa-bay_8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-7145637315490850949Fri, 28 Nov 2014 05:59:00 +00002014-11-28T00:59:09.634-05:002014 Game 12 - Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears @ Home<br>Thankful. <br><br> The Detroit Lions improved their record to 8-4 on Thanksgiving Day after defeating the 5-7 Chicago Bears 34-17 at Ford Field. The Lions new coaching staff have managed to not have a losing season their first year at bat and now have 4 more weeks (after a 10 day wait) to work their way into the playoffs. If nothing else Lions fans have that to be thankful for.<br><br> The game started out not so great as the Bears took the lead in the first quarter 14-3 but the Bears managed only one more field goal after that while the Lions scored 31. Matthew Stafford was 34/45 (an impressive 75.56%) for 390 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. As I understand it, Stafford had more yards in the first half of this game then in any other first half of a game in his NFL career. Calvin Johnson had 11 receptions for 146 yards and both of Stafford's touchdowns making him the youngest wide receiver ever to get to 10,000 yards. Bell was the only running back with any stats netting 91 yards and 2 touchdowns on 23 attempts. Prater nailed both of his field goals and special teams covered all their aspects of the game fairly well. The defense managed two interceptions and three sacks... Jay Cutler probably needed an ice bath before he could attempt to chow on some Thanksgiving day turkey (if he kept his appetite). Forte was held to a grand total of 6 yards on 5 attempts.<br><br> While some fans have started to come to terms with the fact that the Lions defense is actually half way decent (especially if they play man coverage versus say, cover 2) most had started giving up on the offense. The blame has been spread around or at least between Matthew Stafford and the offensive coordinator Lombardi, with the offensive line occasionally mentioned. I've been blaming all 3 as well, but in a different order. Lombardi for calling plays that take time to develop when the OL can't give them that time and Stafford for his various errors and the coaching staff for not helping him correct those issues. Apparently someone figured it out as this game the ball was coming out much faster, something I've been begging for for a few weeks in the forum. The issue with drops by the receivers seems to have corrected it's self as well. The ball was spread around to 9 different players and everyone helped the team to win on national television making Lions fans thankful and the Bears fans dejected. <br><br> Now if the defense can continue to play more man coverage then other coverages, if special teams can continue to play disciplined, if the receivers can continue to use their hands correctly and if Stafford can continue to get the ball out quickly negating the patchwork offensive line issues this team can do some damage yet this year, and it all starts in 10 days against Tampa Bay... a team from the former NFC Central that the Lions used to circle as an automatic two wins back in the day (before they got good and made the Tampa 2 defense popular, a form of cover 2 that I also dislike immensely). This is the 2nd of 3 home games in a row for the Lions before they finish the year with 2 road games, one of which is in Green Bay just before Christmas... in other words, these next two home games are very important for the Lions chances to make the playoffs. Playoffs... a word we can be thankful we are using in week 14 of the season instead of "draft". <br><br> Happy Thanksgiving Lions fans.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/11/2014-game-12-detroit-lions-vs-chicago.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-1053951070648184319Mon, 24 Nov 2014 00:28:00 +00002014-11-23T19:28:16.607-05:002014 Game 11 - Lions @ New England Patriots<br>We Can Only Hope <br><br> The Lions are now 7-3 after losing their second game in a row to the 9-2 New England Patriots by a score of 9-34. Matthew Stafford was a dismal 18/46 (39.13%) for 264 yards, no touchdowns and 1 interception. Meanwhile Tom Brady was 38/53 (71.7%) for 349 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. We can only hope that the Lions will be better prepared for their next game which is in 4 days on Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears.<br><br> The Lions had 91 yards rushing if you count the 3 times Stafford ran for his life, and the Lions defense allowed the Patriots to run for 90 yards (and 2 TDs). They sure didn't look like the NFL's number 1 defense this game, at least, not after the first couple of series. In the beginning of the game Suh and Ansah were stopping the Patriots, making huge play after play, then they nearly disappeared for much of the rest of the game. The players on defense seemed to have forgotten how to tackle, and to cover, and to disrupt, or to blitz, or even how to wait for the ball to be snapped. We can only hope this was some kind of hiccup in the season and not a prelude of things to come.<br><Br> The offense dropped so many passes that I think it outnumbered the completions, pretty sure of it in fact. The offensive line continues to not block. The run game continues to not really scare anyone. Stafford still does stupid things (though he was doing better for much of the game this week). Did I mention the drops? Yeah, there were LOTS of those. Ebron looks like he's not interested in blocking, or running a route if he's not going to get the ball, or to be the least bit physical, and that probably worries me more then the rest of the things I saw go wrong. We can only hope the coaching staff can get this straightened out somehow. They supposedly cut out 1/5 of the plays to make it easier for the players to implement the plays and they responded by doing even worse then in previous games. Meanwhile, the Lions went from 1st in the division to 2nd and play again in 4 days against another divisional team. Stop me if you've seen this scenario before. <br><br> Not to be outdone, the special teams continues to miss field goals (did make 3 though) and fail to hit deep punts consistently or to stop long returns by the opposing team. Ross spent more time heading towards the sidelines then he did going towards the end zone. It was really frustrating to watch. <br><br> The only thing I saw that was positive from this game was that the officiating was much more fair and generally correct all game long.<br><br> As I type this the Lions only scored more points this week then the Jacksonville Jaguars (3) and the Arizona Cardinals (3). Yeah, those Cardinals. Hard to believe really.<br><br> I thought about going into a great multi-page rant about various individual players, and coaches, and that spot on the wall over there that is really bothering me... but what good would it do? Other then wiping off the spot on the wall (which I already did) I can not affect the outcome of these games in any way, so I, like everyone else, has to simply sit (or stand or lay down or even pace) and hope the team somehow, someway, improves and starts to win games again.<br><br> Will I find myself on Thursday giving thanks for a Lions win? We can only hope. <br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/11/2014-game-11-lions-new-england-patriots.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-8562227038577661532Mon, 17 Nov 2014 02:32:00 +00002014-11-16T21:32:59.339-05:002014 Game 10 - Lions @ Arizona Cardinals<br>Inadequate. <br><br> The 7-3 Detroit Lions lost to the 9-1 Arizona Cardinals by a score of 6-14. For the first time this season the Detroit Lions did not score a touchdown in the game. Some seem to think the Cardinals would be an easy win, but in truth, if the Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots tonight then the Cardinals will have a two game lead... on the entire NFL. The Cardinals team is for real. So are the Lions. Both have their flaws, both can be exploited, and in this contest it was the Detroit Lions who were exploited more. In fact, by exploiting just one weakness the entire offense sputtered. That being the offensive line. Part of the issue was injuries. The RT Waddle got injured about half way through the game and the RG Warford didn't play at all, though the backup center Swanson filled in fairly well. Still, Matthew Stafford faced tons of pressure all game long and the offensive line was inadequate when it came to protecting the QB, or creating run lanes, or pretty much anything else pertaining to their job. <br><br> This phenomena happens with all teams and their quarterbacks from time to time; including Tom Brady earlier in the season, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in today's contests, and most other quarterbacks both in the game now and who have played in the past. Without a semblance of a run game and without at least a little time to read the field then to set and throw, any quarterback, neigh, <b>any team</b>, will have trouble producing points. Luckily, not every team has the assets in place on defense to produce this type of exploitation of the offense. At least, not without corrective measures being taken. Today however, those corrective measures were also... inadequate.<br><br> One corrective measure that can be taken is the deep ball. If a defense has to defend the deep ball it can't crowd the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately you have to give the quarterback time, or the quarterback has to scamper to make time, for the receivers to get deep enough for it to work. Matthew Stafford is the fastest QB to 20,000 passing yards, taking only 71 games to do it (surpassing Dan Marino who took 74 games to do the same), but that has happened despite his long ball inaccuracies and his lack of production throwing on the run, not because of it. In fact, since Stafford appears to not actually trust his OL for more then a couple of seconds (and for good reason) he rarely has time for the long ball and when he does scamper he tends to run right into the incoming defense. Let's just say his pocket awareness is till a work in progress. So this method of fighting the rush the Lions faced is inadequate to the task.<br><Br> Some other things you can do include using TEs to give you extra blocking on the OL and screen passes. However, the Lions TEs in this game aren't quite up to blocking just yet, their entire combined NFL careers can be measured in hours, if not minutes, of play. The screen passes that can help slow down the pass rush require your OL to sell the chip block as a failed block (that part is easy) and then set up to run in front of the RB... the Arizona defense is so fast that they could sniff out and destroy the screen rather quickly. In fact, just about every move that could be made to slow down the Arizona Cardinals was made, except for the quick inside timing routes that a small speedy WR can get some yards after the catch with. Unfortunately that was not tried, or failed if it was tried, I am not sure if it was because Broyles was inactive (a coaching decision and issue in it's own right) or if Broyles has lost his speed, or if Stafford can't actually produce in timing plays, or ... well, I don't know why the Lions can not do it but they don't.<br><br> Matthew Stafford was 18 of 30 (an even 60%) for only 183 yards no TDs and 1 INT. The Lions rushed for 98 yards. The defense was unable to score. All 6 of the Lions points were in the first half. These numbers were quite inadequate to win the game.<br><Br> But wait! The Lions have the #1 defense in the league, so what did they do? Well, they held Drew Stanton to 21 of 32 (65.625%) for 306 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. The Lions also held the Cardinals to only 46 yards rushing. So while the Lions defense was twice as good at run defense they allowed 3 more catches (amazing what 3 catches can do) and 123 more passing yards (amazing how the long ball can help out the OL with the pass rush) giving up two touchdowns in the first half, and then not a single point more throughout the second half. Normally, what the Lions defense did would be sufficient to win a game, but this time it was inadequate because the Cardinals defense was better against the pass... unless you believe that Stanton was better then Stafford... I suppose that would depend on if you are pro or anti Stafford. I personally think that blaming Stafford for all of it, or blaming the defense for all of it, or even blaming the offensive line for all of it would be incorrect... as it was some of each.<Br><br> Then, no matter what side you are on, you can put a bit of blame onto the hands that throw the yellow flags during the game. The officiating in this game was some of the worst, most lopsided, officiating that I've seen in a while. There is no knowing if the Lions ever would have scored a touchdown without the refs help, but there is no doubt the officiating was wholly inadequate for NFL standards. Unfortunately, we will never know what the NFL will do about it, if anything.<br><Br> To summarize: I state without hesitation that the officiating was poor at best; that the Lions coaching may have handicapped themselves to an extent, that Stafford had yet another poor game, that the Cardinals pass defense outplayed the Lions pass defense but that the Lions run defense was better then the Cardinals run defense; and most of all, the Lions offensive line was exploited by a very talented Cardinal team. <br><br> The Lions have another road game next weekend when they play the New England Patriots. I'm fairly sure nearly everyone will give the Lions no chance in this game, but I say it all depends on the matchup, and who can exploit who better. The Patriots are very good at this sort of thing... so it isn't going to be easy... but it is far from automatic as well. If the Lions haven't lost all their confidence, if they are mad they lost in Arizona and are going to put forth the effort in their next game, then perhaps it will be the Patriots who find they are inadequate when it comes to matching up with the Lions.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/11/2014-game-10-lions-arizona-cardinals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-1751877406963917085Mon, 10 Nov 2014 04:56:00 +00002014-11-09T23:56:58.761-05:002014 Game 9 - Detroit Lions vs Miami Dolphins @ Home<br>I have a feeling. <br><br> The 7-2 Detroit Lions narrowly beat out the 5-4 Miami Dolphins at home today 20-16 after trailing them for much of the 2nd half. In fact, the Lions didn't regain the lead until there was 29 seconds left on the clock when Stafford threw a TD to the 3rd string running back Riddick. Stafford ended up 25 of 40 (62.5%) for 280 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT. It was definitely not one of his better games (like I haven't said THAT before) but he started out okay and finished in great come back fashion. The problem is, he didn't need to have to come back from behind if he simply wouldn't take so many risks throwing to CJ when it wasn't warranted or necessary, and if he could but throw more accurately more often. I have a feeling I will be saying that an awful lot over the forthcoming games and probably years.<br><br> Meanwhile the Lions defense held Miami to just 207 passing yards, just 50 rushing yards, got an interception and caused three fumbles recovering one of them along with 3 sacks. Those are astoundingly great numbers for any NFL defense. No, they weren't perfect every single snap, and no, they gave up some yardage here and there (especially in the 3rd quarter when they were gassed) but overall, in the grand scheme of things, the Lions defense proved they are for real. I have a feeling I will be saying that more often as well.<br><br> I hate it when I have to bring up the officiating but man, there were some calls and non-calls this game that were so offendingly one sided that it's hard to ignore. Had the Lions actually lost this game I do believe there would have been a rather large outcry about the officiating, but I could be wrong. Of course, as we have learned in the past, any kind of outcry about the officiating is met with pretty much no response at all, officially or even publicly. I only hope that in their weekly report to the NFL that the Lions coaches do politely broach the subject. I also hope that in the end it does some good somehow. I have a feeling it probably won't though.<Br><Br> Okay, so, the Lions are now 7-2. The last time that happened the babies that were born that year are this year having their first legal drinks in their local bars (that's right people, the last 7-2 start was in 1993, the Barry Sander's years). Anyone remember those? I do. Barry Sanders got me hooked on the NFL in general and the Lions in particular. After almost making the superbowl in 1991 and the letdown of 1992 many of us Lions fans were feeling pretty good about 1993 until the wheels fell off. Here's hoping I never have to say that kind of thing ever again.<br><br> So here we are, the Lions have a great defense, they have a quarterback who appears to need great quantities of adrenaline to play well enough to pull off a last minute win (3 times in the last 3 games, winning the 3 games by a accumulated total of 6 points, all come from behind victories), and remain in sole possession of 1st place in the division with the Green Bay Packers still nipping at their heals. I have a feeling I will be saying that again too in the weeks to come.<br><br> Next week the Lions have a road game, in Arizona, against the Cardinals, who are 8 and 1. Plus, to top it off, the recently re-signed Palmer may have hurt his ACL and might miss the rest of the year to injury leaving Drew Stanton as their QB for this upcoming and all future 2014 games. I can't even begin to describe my feelings about that. This is an all important conference game, possibly with a team vying for home field advantage in the playoffs. A team the Lions may actually have to face in the playoffs (yes I said the "p" word). And at QB for them is none other then the former Lion Drew Stanton. With the NFL's number 1 defense (hard to get used to saying that too) the Lions stand a reasonable chance at a win in the desert... I have a feeling... ah, no, can't say it, can't jinx it, won't predict it, just let's get to next week already so we can all view another Lions game, and thank you for joining me in knocking on wood. <br><br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/11/2014-game-9-detroit-lions-vs-miami.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-7190016672895867965Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:42:00 +00002014-10-26T18:42:54.123-05:002014 Game 8 - Detroit Lions vs Atlanta Falcons @ England (across the pond)<br>Lucky! <br><br>Here is something that I have never typed... the "Lucky" 6-2 Detroit Lions beat the unlucky 2-6 Atlanta Falcons 22-21 on a beautiful day in England. In throwing 2 TDs Matthew Stafford is now at a NFL career 120 TDs and breaks the long standing Lions record of 118 TDs held by Bobby Layne (Stafford went to the same High School as the great Bobby Layne too... nearly 50 years apart). In fact Matthew Stafford was 24 of 47 (for an ugly 51.06%) for 325 yards to go along with his 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Just for comparison, Matt Ryan was 20 of 27 (for an impressive 74.07%) and 228 yards along with the same 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Yet the Lions were the winning team, and many would say, very lucky.<br><br> In order for the Lions to win the game they needed a full 60 minutes plus 4 more seconds of playing time. Normally that means time expires before the game could be won... but the refs called a delay of game penalty with 4 seconds remaining on the game clock as the ball was hiked... which Prater kicked... and missed. The full 60 minutes were up. But the play never happened so the Lions were backed up 5 yards, 4 seconds were put back on the play clock, and Prater got another chance... this time from 48 yards out... and this time there were no flags and the Lions (well, Prater) made the field goal to bring the score from 19-21 to win it 22-21. In super duper slo-mo it kind of looks like the delay of game penalty was called with perhaps a half a second on the clock and just as the ball was hiked... more or less simultaneously. Typically that never gets called. Or typically, even if called, the kick would've been good the first time and the Lions would've gotten that penalty only to miss it on the 2nd try. But not this time, this time, it was good for the win. Yep, lucky. Guess this is not the "Same ole Lions".<br><br> The Falcons scored all 21 points in the first half. The Lions scored all 22 points in the second half. That's some major half time adjustments right there. Did I ever mention I like this new coaching staff? Well, I do. Anyway, it seemed like the NFL's #1 defense was blowing it all game long... and it seemed like Stafford was also blowing it all game long, and indeed there were many errors during the 60 minutes of game time... but the defense only actually allowed 78 yards rushing and 228 yards passing... so they did their part (despite missing a major part of the their run defense in C.J. Mosley who was suspended 2 games by the Lions and sent home to the USA alone yesterday; and despite Fairley getting hurt early in the 2nd half and going to the locker room)... plus Stafford had the same TDs to INT ratio as Ryan with 97 more passing yards... I'm rambling... ah, anyway, the bad plays and the lopsided score made it seem like the Lions had regressed and were going to lose... well, actually, they were losing for 60 minutes... but did I mention the Lions won? You see, the refs have, in the past, made it so hard for the Lions to win a game and in fact many times were a major factor in the loss that I am simply at a loss as how to write about the refs helping the Lions to win a game... even if they didn't... more or less (there was that questionable non-call on the 2 point conversion earlier, along with some other if'y calls here and there)... okay, I guess I'll just have to get over how lucky the Lions were and accept they won the game fair and square despite all the obstacles they had to overcome. <br><br> The Lions now head into their bye week, plenty of time to get over their jet lag, plenty of time to heal up Reggie Bush, and Calvin Johnson, and Eric Ebron, and Fauria and Pettigrew and perhaps Fairley, and all the others on the team that are hurting... or at least plenty of time for most of them to heal up... and perhaps plenty of time for me to get used to the new Lions, or not, as the case may be. The next game will be November 9th in Detroit versus the Miami Dolphins, and I do believe it'll be a great contest. I would even predict a Lions win if I were still in the prediction business. But I gave that up a few weeks back so instead I'll just say I'm looking forward to the matchup, and if need be, I will even try to get used to the Detroit Lions being, ah, lucky.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/10/2014-game-8-detroit-lions-vs-atlanta.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-5862998551007426340Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:25:00 +00002014-10-19T20:25:33.416-05:002014 Game 7 - Detroit Lions vs New Orleans Saints @ Home<br>Getting there. <br><br>The 5-2 Detroit Lions barely beat the New Orleans Saints by a score of 24-23 at home today. It was never a sure thing (unless you were sure the Lions were going to lose) and the Saints aren't always all that great on the road, but in the end the Lions did just enough to pull off a win. If you missed the final 4 or so minutes of the game you missed the Lions scoring 14 points to make up for the 2 scores they were behind to seal the deal with their defense. That's right, Brees had time to drive to within field goal range but the Lions (currently #1 ranked) defense (yes, I said DEFENSE) held... eventually getting the ball back to the Lions Offense on downs.<br><br> This minor miracle (the win) was performed without the help of Calvin Johnson, or Eric Ebron, or Joseph Fauria, or with tons of yardage. In fact, there was only 59 yards rushing for the Lions in the entire game... and Stafford only threw for 299 yards, completing 27 of 40 (67.5%) with 2 TDs and 2 INTs (1 of which was definitely not his fault). As a group, I would say this team is getting there.<br><br> No, they are not a well oiled machine. No, Stafford isn't garnering the attention that a Peyton Manning would. Some would even call the offense boring and semi-predictable for the majority of each game... but you have to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. Golden Tate had 10 receptions for 154 yards and a TD. The next best player on offense was RB Joique Bell with his 18 rushing attempts for 48 yards and a TD along with 2 catches for 19 yards. Then WR Corey Fuller with 3 catches for 44 yards and a TD. Multiple players are contributing to the win, it's not just Calvin Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Calvin Johnson any more. <br><br> The defense is definitely using the right combination of speed, youth, intelligence and coaching to excel. I was wondering if their #1 rank was earned or a disguise due to them playing poor offenses to date. After watching this game, and despite a few hiccups here and there, I no longer have as many of those kind of doubts. I too am getting there.<br><br> The offense still has a ways to go, but if the defense can continue to keep them in the games while the offense grows into their own skin, this team has a chance, no matter how slim, to make some noise in January... as in, the "p" word. It won't be easy, or automatic, and there is still many obstacles to overcome (not the least of which is the upcoming game played in England), but more then one team recently has made noise in the post season with the recipe that begins with a great defense. Before I jinx it I shall say no more on the matter... this week. <br><br> Those reading this may have noticed I missed the past couple of weeks of blog entries. My father (Terry Nielsen) passed away during the game two weeks ago and his funeral (up by Mackinaw City) was last Saturday, so needless to say I was unavailable and rather unwilling to write anything. My father taught me a great many things about life, more then I could possibly re-iterate, so I won't get into that in any great detail, but one thing he stressed more then anything else was about planning ahead. Being prepared. These hard fought football games, teammates helping other teammates to win despite whatever comes up, even the next game in England instead of in Atlanta, will go a long way to prepare the Lions for a possible playoff run. They need to take nothing for granted and continue the hard work day after day, game after game, and work together to overcome the next obstacle, because there will always be a "next obstacle". Learning just how to do that and trusting your fellow teammates to help with that is a critical ingredient to having success. In that regard, I think the Lions are indeed getting there.<br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/10/2014-game-7-detroit-lions-vs-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-7230825838190622819Mon, 29 Sep 2014 02:25:00 +00002014-09-28T21:25:30.228-05:002014 Game 4 - Lions @ New York Jets<br>How about that. <br><br>The 3-1 Detroit Lions beat the 1-3 New York Jets 24-17... outside... in an away game... had led them all game long... making the Lions 1st in the NFC North division. <br><br> TDs were caught by Jeremy Ross and Eric Ebron, with another TD ran in by Matthew Stafford himself. Matthew Stafford was 24 of 34 (70.588%) for 293 yards and 2 TDs with 0 INTs. Calvin Johnson had 2 receptions for 12 yards. Let me repeat the important parts here... this was an away game, played outdoors, CJ had only 2 receptions for 12 yards, Stafford completed over 70% of his passes and there were no turnovers by anyone on the Lions team. How about that, huh?<br><br> The new kicker missed a field goal, there were mistakes made by various players that they can work on this week, but by and large, this team was ready to play, played well, and won a game they deserved to win. In the end, you can't really ask for more then that. Now that other teams are starting to "get it" and are beginning to show up (such as the Packers) this small head start could come in quite handy in the future... should the Lions make any post season like noise in December. But let's not count the champagne bottles before their opened (such as the Detroit Tigers were doing, only finally winning the division on the last regular season game of the year, today in fact, and thank you Tigers)... there are still 12 long grueling football games to go yet. The next being at home against the Buffalo Bills (and former head coach Jim Schwartz as the DC). <br><br> A few players need to get healthy, such as Joique Bell (concussion), CJ (knee), Waddle (or any RT please), and Stafford (who had a bad turf burn on the back of his throwing hand along with a limp before half time that carried over into the ride home). I don't want to see the Lions just beat the Buffalo Bills next week, I want to see the Lions offense annihilate them. I'm not predicting that, don't want to jinx them, just hoping I get to see it. In fact, when I predicted the Lions would win against the Panthers (read below) they lost, and when I predicted the Lions would lose to the Jets they won. So either I keep predicting the Lions to lose to avoid jinxing them or I stop making predictions altogether. I'll go with the latter.<br><br> Here are a few things I would like to see during the game next week though. At least 2 sacks made by Lions Defensive Ends. More TDs then turnovers lost, again. And, another good game that makes me want to say "How about that!" after it's over... and not because something bad happened either. <br><br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/09/2014-game-4-lions-new-york-jets.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-8880261929455974579Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:41:00 +00002014-09-21T22:41:59.052-05:002014 Game 3 - Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers @ Home<br>Speechless. <br><br> The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers at home with a score of 19-7. This marks the first time the Lions have EVER beaten the Packers whilst Rodgers was the QB for the entire game. AND, the game was won because of the Lions DEFENSE! I am speechless!<br><br> I mean, Nate Freese missed yet another field goal which now gives him a rockier start then the Lions last rookie kicker, Jason Hanson (who was 3 for 6 his first 3 games). The Lions Offense gave up 3 turnovers. Matthew Stafford had completed less then half his passes by half time. But the defense had kept the Lions in the game with a pick-6 early on in the first quarter and a safety in the second, then after half time a completely different team took the field with Stafford completing something like all but 2 of his passes and thankfully no more interceptions (he had 2). It was quite a game, to say the least.<br><br> In the end, Matthew Stafford was 22 of 34 for 246 yards, no TDs and 2 INTs. That's a 64.7% completion rate (and as I said, it was under 50% around half time). In comparison, the mighty Rodgers was only 16 of 27 for 162 yards and 1 TD. If I was giving the game ball to just one person though it would be going to the weak side linebacker; DeAndre Levy, who put on a pro-bowl worthy performance yet again. It was a fun game to watch, a great game for Lions fans, and I want to say more about it but as I said, I'm speechless.<br><br> Congratulations to all the players on playing for all they were worth. Congrats to the coaches on proving you do have what it takes. And, good job fans for making it loud. I will also add that I am oh so glad my prediction of a Lions loss did not come true. Makes me want to predict a loss for every game from now on, but I try not to get too superstitious, so I will simply go with this... the Jets will have one less day to practice (they play Monday night against the Bears, go Jets!) and though they are tough... oh wait, it's an away game, hmmm... okay, I can't predict a tie, so I'll go with the Lions losing by 1 point... something like 24-23. (Okay, perhaps I do believe in jinxes).<br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/09/2014-game-3-detroit-lions-vs-green-bay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-7662533677776063989Mon, 15 Sep 2014 02:59:00 +00002014-09-14T21:59:31.057-05:002014 Game 2 - Lions @ Carolina Panthers<br>Never mind.<br><br> The Detroit Lions lost this one to the Carolina Panthers by a score of 7-24. While it's true the Panther's have a great defense, it's also true the Lions needed to be tested by a great defense and also by a road game. They failed the test. Utterly. Never mind that at one point in the 3rd they were ahead 7-6. Once they had the lead they could not build on it nor hang tough and keep the Panthers from scoring.<br><br> Part of that failure to build on the lead was due to their rookie kicker, Nate Freese. Prior to taking the lead he failed to convert both field goal attempts. It was quite possibly a career ending day for him, depending on how the coaches handle it. Myself, I might try to see if a way can be found to calm down the ole nerves and get him to do what he is quite capable of doing, that is hitting field goals at pretty much any NFL range. Not sure if it was because he was outside (probably not) or away (probably not) or just nerves (probably so) but missing two field goals under 50 yards in the same game is usually frowned upon so look for the Lions to at least bring in some kickers to evaluate.<br><br> That said, Matthew Stafford was only 27 of 48 for 291 yards 1 TD and 1 INT. That's 56.25% which is just as bad as the kicker in NFL terms. Especially since the INT was near the end zone as they were driving, in the lead, and the receiver was well covered. Basically, the play should've never ever been attempted. What makes it even worse, the running game was an anemic 18 attempts for 70 yards, one of which was Stafford for 8 yards. If you want to worry about something, never mind the kicker and special teams, look at the offense as an equal part of the problem.<br><br> I'm not saying the game was lost by special teams and the offense, oh no. The defense gets to have their share assigned to them as well. Allowing a partially healed Cam Newton to complete over 64% of his passes for 281 yards and a TD plus allowing another rushing TD despite keeping them to less rushing yards then the Lions had was also disheartening. The Lions also failed to create a single turnover.<br><br> Speaking of turnovers, the Lions had a couple, but the reason I'm not harping on anyone about them is because the one was recovered by the Lions and the other two were created by absolutely great defensive plays... where the defenders (as in more then one) would keep the ball carrier from advancing while another defender would have time to wind up and punch the ball, hard, right out of the ball carriers grip. That is nearly impossible to prevent if you are going to try for those extra yards instead of hitting the deck. I suppose if you want to split hairs the ball carrier needs to hold on better, but doing that takes away some speed and power and balance (holding with both arms like that) to the point I'm not sure I would be all that crazy about it happening all the time. I give cudo's to the Panthers on their turnover prowess... and glare at the Lions for failing to do the same.<br><br> Another issue with the game is the Lions lost yet another nickel cornerback, possibly for the season, when their 4th round draft pick left the game injured. I think the Lions are fresh out of nickelbacks (not talking the music group here) and since they play in the nickel almost all of the time they are going to have to go shopping for someone on Tuesday. I hope the front office has a good short list.<br><br> Finally there's our new coaching staff. They weren't quite a prepared for this game as they were for the Giants. The Panthers were able to turn things around before the 4th quarter got here and stay ahead of the moves the Lions made. That includes the horrible decision to play in cover 2/cover 3 late in the game... the Lions really got gashed then. They couldn't get the kicker to settle down and just play, nor could they keep their star highly paid DTs in the game when they were needed most, in the final quarter. I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons and such, injuries and game plan, never mind the apparent lack of stamina or conditioning or whatever you call it... but if a certain DT wants to make near star QB money he needs to be playing pretty much every snap and creating havoc in my opinion, a lot of havoc, not just a couple times a game. <br><br> Okay, I'll try to calm down here enough to make my prediction for next week. After signing a new cornerback and quite possibly a new kicker (but not necessarily) they will have to prepare for the Packers at home. The same Packers who very nearly lost to the Jets today. If some of this mess can be worked on and fixed I think the Lions can give a good game but I'm concerned they will fall short... so I will predict a loss of 24-17.<br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/09/2014-game-2-lions-carolina-panthers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-8423577593447712070Fri, 12 Sep 2014 04:46:00 +00002014-09-11T23:46:45.855-05:00Game 1 - Detroit Lions vs New York Giants @ Home<br>Something's missing.<br><br> Yeah, I know, about 6 weeks worth of blog entries are missing for one thing. Sometimes life just takes too much time and something has to give, in this case it was writing blog entries. Yet that's not what I'm talking about. <br><br> Since it's brought up though, let's do a little catching up. As my previous 4 blog entries indicate, I went to the Lions training camp practices for a couple of days and used that information to update my estimated depth chart as I do every year... prior to game 3 of the preseason. Managed to do the best yet, 49 right. <br><br> They kept<br><br>QB Moore over G Rodney Austin<br>WR Ogletree over WR Durham<br>FB Montell Owens over HB George Winn<br>CB Lawson over CB Mohammed Seisay<br><br> Nailed the rest of it. Not bad for locking it in prior to game 3 in preseason.<br><br> Just to steal my thunder though, 2 others in my forum got 50 right (LionHawk and TimT). I'll use that as incentive to do better next year. Then again, I think perhaps they didn't lock in prior to game 3 in preseason, ah heck with it, still need to do better.<br><br> The next thing missing is my prediction for the Lions season. I entered it into my contest as 10-6, with that being good enough for 2nd in the division, but not quite enough to make the playoffs... thus ending up drafting 19th overall in the 2015 draft. Since only game 1 is over with there is still plenty of time to beat me out of this prediction as well, which would be fine by me.<br><br> Enough catching up, the Lions stomped on the Giants in week 1 with a score of 35-14. Matthew Stafford was 22 of 32 for 346 yards and 2 TDs with no INTs. He even ran in a TD himself. The defense didn't embarrass themselves, nor did special teams. On top of all that the coaching appeared to be top notch. Are they ready for the playoffs after just one week? No. There is still a lot of things they can work on to get better, but they were definitely ready to play week 1, and with new systems on both sides of the ball that's a pretty good feat in and of itself. <br><br> No, there was something missing though... I just can't... hmmm... it wasn't Stafford's mechanics, they weren't perfect but they were definitely much improved. It wasn't the game plan, that seemed solid. It wasn't a lack of adjustments in game, that did occur and worked out superbly. It wasn't bad clock management, that too was solid. It wasn't any one thing... ah... that's it... what was missing was the previous coaching staff who couldn't do any of these things correctly. I admit the lack of experience at both OC and DC had me worried. I'm sure that there will be a hiccup here and there still, but as of right now it just plain feels good to have competent leadership running the Lions for a change.<br><br> Now, hopefully, they don't do anything to make me eat my words, it took me too long to get around to writing them for that to happen! Still, now the real tests begin. The Panthers now have some film to work with (as do the Lions) and the Panthers have the talent and the coaching to make this road game a tough one. That said, I feel another prediction is in order, so here we go... the Lions win in Carolina beating the Panthers by less then one score (between 1 and 7 points) in a hard fought contest. <br><br>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/09/game-1-detroit-lions-vs-new-york-giants.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-659439798774612472Sat, 09 Aug 2014 23:09:00 +00002014-08-09T18:09:51.746-05:00Lions Training Camp 2014 - Part IV<br>Allen Park, Thursday afternoon August 7, 2014<br><br> This will be my final installation of my training camp articles relaying the things I saw, some play-by-play, and other tidbits. After the first preseason game (which starts in about an hour) I will go over that and then start on my roster articles. I shall start off with the Quarterbacks. <Br><Br> The QB Coach and all 4 quarterbacks were working on the mechanics of being an NFL QB near the VIP tent which was 50 feet or so to the right of where I was in the stands (5th row, 50 yard line, field closest to their indoor facility). I'm afraid to admit this, but I watched the entire practice at Ford Field last night and never once caught on to the fact that #17 Kellen Moore is a left handed QB. What does this have to do with anything? Well, a lefty throws the ball from a different angle then WRs are used to, and the spiral is exactly the opposite, in other words, the ball is spinning backwards. That makes it harder to catch, for some. Anyway, since at this practice the QBs are much closer to where I am seated I am able to notice how the drill they are working on is stressing good QB mechanics. I also note that #14 Franklin is taller then Moore, as tall and stocky as #9 Stafford, shorter then #8 Orlovsky who has a very thin body frame, and rarely gets in on the team drills, but plays every snap in his positional group drills. I suspect that will make him practice squad material. <br><br> I see #62 has on an arm brace, probably for an elbow, #62 is a guard named Darren Keyton. The Centers working with the 4 QBs are #51 Raiola, #64 Swanson (this year's draft pick), #74 Rodney Austin, and #60 Alex Bullard (shows as a guard in the program they just gave me as I entered camp). For some drills they use all 4 centers and all 4 QBs at the same time. This is a new drill I never saw before in the 16 or so years I've been going to camps. <br><br> After I noted the QB drills to my right, and the injured players out a ways, the Safeties group move to directly in front of me to work on some drills.<br><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qa4ZYxETkVg/U-alNtz59RI/AAAAAAAAAEE/gOCjNZpPbTg/s1600/safeties.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qa4ZYxETkVg/U-alNtz59RI/AAAAAAAAAEE/gOCjNZpPbTg/s400/safeties.jpg" /></a> The cameras are 100 yards away in front of me and 100 yards away to my right... so directly in front of me isn't exactly being recorded for later perusal by the coaches, giving some players the opportunity to slack off a bit if they were inclined to do so. I noted that #30 Gomes was just such a player. The drills that stressed coverage or interceptions he was all over, but the tackling drills he merely went through the motions, or so it appeared to me. I shall be curious to see how he does in the games (at tackling). There were very few other players doing this "evasive maneuver" and certainly not as many as I have seen at almost every camp I have ever been to, but if I had to pick one example in the 2014 Lions camp it would be Gomes.<br><br> While the DBs were working in front of me 60 or 70 yards away were the QBs, Centers, and WRs. All 4 centers would hike the ball to all 4 QBs at the same time as all 4 WRs would take off and one by one each WR would become a target by one of the QBs. This was a new drill for me, I wish they were closer so I could talk more about it. As it was, I could barely make out what was going on let alone who did well or who did not. I did catch one negative and two flashes of the positive kind... the negative was seeing Durham drop one of the multi-passes, the positives were a great deep route and catch by Ogletree and another excellent catch by Fuller.<Br><br> Next was the O and D working not on routes or anything but what appeared to be they were working on pre-snap recognition. After that session, I noted Orlo throw a pass and #18 Durham making a great catch, one of those flash types I have mentioned before. I saw Durham make another flash play in the next series too. That would make him pretty even in bad plays and flash plays over the two days I saw. In one of those two series I noted a flash play by TE Fauria who caught another nice pass by Orlo. Orlovsky had a much better practice Thursday then he did Wednesday. Much much better. Though there was one play that was replay worthy, a pass to a WR that got tipped instead of caught, then the defender popped it into the air only to allow #49 Maxwell the TE to make the catch. Nice concentration on his part.<br><Br> There was a lot of drills going on all over Allen Park Thursday, unfortunately due to the size of the area it was excessively difficult, nye on impossible, to make a lot of it. A few more pics to see just how much area there is to cover there.<br> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5stpD76Kdcg/U-aowP8OFCI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/GFF2cySwsAU/s1600/ddrills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5stpD76Kdcg/U-aowP8OFCI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/GFF2cySwsAU/s400/ddrills.jpg" /></a></div><br><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XEKalZ-CRMA/U-ao7cXNrKI/AAAAAAAAAEY/S5l6F3R0MnA/s1600/puntersandkickers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XEKalZ-CRMA/U-ao7cXNrKI/AAAAAAAAAEY/S5l6F3R0MnA/s400/puntersandkickers.jpg" /></a></div><br><br> Following the practice the fans once again flocked to the fences to get autographs while I prepared for the long drive home. Here you can see just how close the fans get to the players at these practices, just in case you haven't made it to one of them yet.<br> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ENBG1umuXJc/U-apRekfENI/AAAAAAAAAEg/W7MAXk1MfPo/s1600/durham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ENBG1umuXJc/U-apRekfENI/AAAAAAAAAEg/W7MAXk1MfPo/s320/durham.jpg" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o-IVwphF2Wc/U-apXs2_vpI/AAAAAAAAAEs/tGac_HltSrU/s1600/hof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o-IVwphF2Wc/U-apXs2_vpI/AAAAAAAAAEs/tGac_HltSrU/s320/hof.jpg" /></a></div> <br><br> So there you have it, time to see how these guys do under live bullets, so to speak. For the first time ever (for some of these guys) the Lions will be tackling, getting tackled, sacking and getting sacked... as they take the field and take on the Cleveland Browns. I predict a winning score by the Lions by half time. I have no idea if Moore can maintain that lead until the end of the game or not, but considering the quality of the skilled players on O to help him out, I think they can. I shall predict a meaningless preseason game 1 score of Lions 27 and Browns 20.<br><br> Here's to no injuries! <b>Go Lions!!!<br></b>http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/08/lions-training-camp-2014-part-iv.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878374527740897949.post-5578647903519520558Sat, 09 Aug 2014 22:09:00 +00002014-08-09T17:09:15.310-05:00Lions Training Camp 2014 - Part III<br>In continuing from my notes at the Ford Field practice (see the two previous blog entries below) and following another whistle the main practice area added more players from other position groups who were practicing elsewhere and I was able to jot down a few numbers and notes on who was working in the first group (1st string), second group (2nd string) etc. I had already figured out from reading other bloggers articles that the rookies were, to a man, working further down the depth chart. No one was being given a free ride to first string based on the round, or year, they were drafted in. Many coaching staffs do it this way so it wasn't anything unexpected as far as I was concerned.<br><br> First thing with this drill I noticed was that #11 Ogeltree was in the slot working with CJ, Tate, Pettigrew, Bell and Hilliard at right tackle. Nothing stood out negative or flashed super positive in this drill as my very next note was the lineup for the 2nd group... which was Waddle at right tackle; Orlovsky at QB, Ross, Broyles and Durham at WR; Lucas at left tackle and Fauria at TE. At RB was Riddick and I think Leshoure. A star by Riddicks name in my notes means he did something in this drill that stood out, unfortunately I hadn't the time to write down what it was. I did have my "up arrow" sign in for Lucas and Fauria meaning that both these dudes look huge compared to their teammates. When I say huge, I don't mean fat. I mean very tall, very solidly built, just giants compared to others on the team next to them. It takes you half a second to realize you want them on your side in a fight, or when collecting money from someone, or whatever it is you are doing. Big big men. I will also add in here that there is no player on the 90 who appears out of shape, fat, overweight, or in any way not svelte. Honed and toned, I felt quite literally like signing up with a gym and exercising more before leaving the building. Now where was I, oh yeah, the 3rd string came up to the line and it was #17 Moore at QB; Reynolds at RT; Thompson at TE; Andrew Peacock, Quintin Payton and Patrick Edwards at WR; #40 Steven Miller at RB. I never did catch if Bush, Fuller and several others were ever substituted in. Like I said, there is a lot going on, too much most of the time to catch it all without that imaginary DVR remote control.<br><br> After the whistle another set of plays are run practicing who knows what, this time instead of jotting down who was playing where, or what the situation they were working on was, I just watched to see who did things well, or who blew it... a little "me time" if you will. Anyway, Stafford threw a nice easy uncomplicated simple pass to Calvin Johnson who caught it effortlessly but you'd have thought the pass had won them the national championship the way the crowd went nuts. I just shook my head and chuckled a little, sometimes the simplest of things impress people. I did note that during this drill most of the players stayed the same but the RBs were switched out each snap. After one run through the QB was switched out and Orlovsky was in. I made note that Bentley very nearly picked off a pass right off the bat on a nice angle. #99 (Mosley) then flashed with a great solo "tackle" on RB Miller. When the Lions practice there is no tackling per se, but had Mosley been allowed to, Miller was going to be buried in Ford Field that play. I also had down a flash by Ross on a leaping catch. The next note was that it appeared the 2's and 3's would've missed some tackles were things live, but that may have been due to the no contact thing too. Hard to fly to the ball when you can't actually make contact upon arrival. My notes next contain another up arrow by the number 77, I see that's Lucas again, he must have been huddled up next to his much smaller OL teammates. Right about this time Webster flashed a little something, against Lucas, but Lucas also flashed something, so it was a nice matchup that play.<br><br> On the whistle it turns into a field goal drill. #3 Freese is up first. This drill started with getting onto the field FAST and setting up then kicking. As if the clock was at 15 seconds and counting down with no time outs. Freese hit from 37, 42, and 47 with plenty of room to spare. Then #5 and his group rush out to do the same drill, he also nails it from 37, 42 and 47 yards... but hold up... #5 Tavecchio is left footed! He's also shorter, weighs less, and his holder for the entire 2 days of practice was always #2 Butler, and except for the pre-practice time with Muhlbach earlier in the night, his long snapper is always someone else (which explains why Butler and Tavecchio were working with Muhlbach together while Martin and Freese did nothing an hour before, it was their only opportunity to work with Muhlbach). Following that drill Freese is up again in another field goal drill and is good from 44 and then 47 yards with plenty of room to spare. Left footed Tavecchio and Butler set up and he's good from 44 but hits the right upright from 47 and the ball bounces off to the right for a miss. I never once saw Martin hold the ball for Tavecchio which says to me that the Kicker for the Lions this year will not be #5 as I believe Martin is a lock as the Punter making #3 Freese the kicker... after day 2 was over though I realized something else, Freese isn't actually safe. It is very unlikely, in my opinion, that Tavecchio makes the team as the kicker, but Freese is competing against every single right footed kicker who gets cut from the other 31 teams too. <br><br> Next drill, no trenches (no OL or DL) and 4 wide (one of which might be a TE or a RB). Stafford to CJ for 20 yards, perfect ball placement. Next play, 2nd or 3rd read, 6 yards to Riddick, also perfect. Next is to Pettigrew for 5 yards, but it's dropped (if you don't like Pettigrew) or it was great defense (if you want the truth). Next snap goes to Leshoure who was the 3rd read for 5 yards, good play. Then one goes to Durham for 10 yards on a come back route. Finally a 20 yard completion to the RB Miller who has good hands. That last might have been Orlovsky or Stafford at QB, not sure when they switched out. Next play Orlo is interecepted by Palmer after popping the ball up, great defensive play. Orlo then hits Leshoure for around 10 yards on a nice pass. The next pass to Ross hits the ground who was in traffic, so while the defense was good, the choice to throw to Ross was not so good. The QB is now Moore, who throws to #82 Jordan Thompson and is defended very well by #50 Lewis. Moore to #41 Riddick is at least 5 yards off target and wasted Riddicks snap. The final play by Moore was broke up by a great play by #36 Green, I missed to the intended target was. No snaps for #14 Franklin in this drill at all, which happens about half the time it seems. Franklin is definitely the #4 QB and has no chance of overtaking Moore... but I am no longer sure either makes the final roster.<Br><br> Next drill still involves no O or D line, but now it's a redzone drill. #9 to #41 for a TD! (Stafford to Riddick). 39 to #87 (Pettigrew) for 7 yards and maybe with YACs (yards after the catch) was a TD. #9 to #21 (Bush) for only 3 yards. Then, from the 5, Stafford throws off his back foot for the first and only time I saw all practice and hits the crossbar instead of whoever his target was. Way high. Next, another flash play, but the D. Stafford at the 5 to (unsure who) and #33 Greenwood makes a fantastic play to knock the ball down all by himself. #8 Orlovsky takes over and hits #41 Riddick for 5 yards who gets knocked hard to the ground by the defender who couldn't pull up in time. #8 to #12 (Ross) for 4 yards. From the 15 it's #8 to #84 (Broyles) for a TD. Next it's #8 to #32 Winn for 14 yards just short of the TD. New QB, #17 (Moore) to #25 Leshoure for 14 yards. #17 to #40 (Miller) for 2 yards. #17 to #38 (Winn) for negative yards (tackled for a loss). The whistle blows. <Br><br> Time for some 11 on 11, from the 24 and a long field. The drill appears to be all 3rd downs, from varying to goes. This is a new drill for me, the team would set and re-set at all kinds of 3rd down and distances. Took me awhile just to figure out that this was what they were working on. Anyway, #9 to CJ for 27 yards, 1st down. #9 to #35 Bell but was popped in the air by a great play on D, failed to see who it was though (where's that remote!). #9 to #15 Tate who bobbles it then pulls it in playing against Vaughn I think who almost broke it up. #9 to #35 Bell for a nice gain. #9 to #87 Pettigrew for a nice gain, nice sweet play too. Then another sweet completion from #9 to #10 Fuller. #8 Orlo to #84 Broyles is good for a first down. #8 to #80 Fauria is a first down. #8 to ??? intercepted by #42 Isa Abdul-Quddus but if this was live it's likely Orlo was sacked and never got the throw off. #8 ... whistle, play called dead by officials (who hadn't done that up until that play). #17 Moore throws to #1 Peacock but it's 3 yards out of bounds. #17 to #10 Fuller, even further out of bounds, flag on #42 Isa for a PI, looked uncatchable to me but whatever. #17 to no one, he ran it for a 1st down. #17 to #25 Leshoure, blown dead, it was 2nd or 3rd read and he had dumped it off to Leshoure who played with the 3rd group a lot in this practice. Whistle for a new drill. Still no Franklin time. <Br><Br> It's a 11 on 11 Redzone drill from the 20. #9 to #15 Tate misses wide, I think it was miscommunication more so then a bad throw, but I can't be sure. #9 to #21 Bush for a short gain, nice catch, 2nd down. #9 to #18 Durham for no catch, Durham tripped over his own feet on the drill and stumbled along the route but couldn't recover in time. A 5 yard catch by #80 Fauria then an air ball to no one (someone ran the wrong route I think). A sloppy set of plays really. Now it's #8 to #29 Vaughn who flashed a really good defensive play there (jump ball). #8 handed the ball off on a delay to Leshoure, I think they were trying to surprise the D by running the ball on a pass drill, the D stopped him after an 8 yard gain though. I liked the play. I either missed a play or there was a 10 yard penalty in there somewhere as it was now 1st and goal from the 2. #8 to #84 Broyles for the TD. Back to the 20 yard line, #17 Moore to handoff to #38 Winn, the surprise didn't work this time, only 2 yards. #17 to #49 TE Maxwell, but #86 Payton was out of position and they had to wait for him. Maxwell fumbles, #45 Seisay picks it up for an easy 6. Last play was #17 to (couldn't tell) nicely broke up by #39 Hester in the end zone. I'm going to assume from the lack of execution that this particular set of plays was new that day and they hadn't worked on them until now. <br><Br> The team huddles up in the middle of the field for a few minutes then breaks up, many of the players head to the sidelines to sign autographs with Bentley in the lead on our side. I watch the mad dash by the crowd for awhile then leave, normally I stay until the brooms come out to clean up but this time I didn't stick around.<br<Br> http://thenetrat.blogspot.com/2014/08/lions-training-camp-2014-part-iii.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (NetRat's Lions Blog)0